
































♦ 


% 










































































































% 




4 * 
































































































































LAWS 


OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK, 

AND OF THE UNITED STATES, 

RELATING TO CHILDREN. 

•# 

WITH NOTES AND REFERENCES. 

- 4 0 -, 

Published, by 

THE NEW YORK SOCIETY FOR THE PREVENTION OF 
CRUELTY TO CHILDREN. 

Office, 860 Broadway, 

NEW YORK CITY. 



Evening Post Steam Presses, cor. Fulton and Broadway. 










Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1876, by Lewis L. Delafield, 
in the Office of the Librarian of Congress at Washington. 




PREFACE. 


I 

I have prepared this compilation at the request of the New 
York Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children. 

My aim has been to furnish the officers of the Society with 
all the Statutes of this State, and of the United States, relat¬ 
ing to the personal rights of children, and the duties and ob¬ 
ligations of all persons, whether natural or artificial, to whose 
custody they are committed, with a reference to the most 
important decisions and a brief statement of the law affecting 
them. 

The operations of the Society are conducted largely by lay¬ 
men. Many matters have therefore been included, which might 
have been omitted had the volume been intended for lawyers. 

If the efforts of the Society to mitigate the sufferings of 
children, to redress their wrongs and punish their persecutors, 
should be aided by these pages, I shall be amply rewarded for 
the labor bestowed upon them. 

New York, November, 1876. 


LEWIS L. DELAFIELD. 






18 7 6 


OFFICERS 

OK 

THE NEW YORK SOCIETY 

FOR THE 

PREVENTION OF CRUELTY TO CHILDREN. 


President. 

JOHN D. WRIGHT. 


JAMES BROWN, 
PETER COOPER, 
WILLIAM E. DODGE, 
JONATHAN THORNE, 
ROBERT L. STUART, 


Vice-Presidents. 

AUGUST BELMONT, 
THEODORE ROOSEVELT, 
HENRY BERGII, 
CORNELIUS VANDERBILT, 
LEWIS L. DELAFIELD. 


Hoard of Managers, 


BENJAMIN H. FIELD, 
HENRY BERGH, 

JOHN HOWARD WRIGHT 
THOMAS C. ACTON, 
FERDINAND DE LUCA, 
SINCLAIR TOUSEY, 
WILLIAM M. VERMILYE, 


CHARLES HAIGHT, 
FREDERIC DE PEYSTER, 
B. B. SHERMAN, 
RICHARD R. HAINES, 
JAMES STOKES, 
WILLIAM H. WEBB, 
ADRIAN ISELIN, Jr., 


HARMON HENDRICKS. 


Treasurer. 

WILLIAM L. JENKINS. 


Counsel. 

LEWIS L. DELAFIELD. 
Attorney. 

WILLIAM H. GIBSON. 


Secretary. 

E. FELLOWS JENKINS. 

Office, 860 Broadway, corner 17th street. 







The references to the Revised Statutes of New York are to the Sixth Edition. 

PAE T I. 


Marriage. 

§ 1. Marriage, so far as its validity in law is concerned, shall 
continue in this state a civil contract, to which the consent of 
parties capable in law of contracting shall be essential ( 2 ). 

3 Revised Statutes, p. 147, § 1. 

( J ) The principal works on Infancy are— 

Simpson’s Law and Practice relating to Infants. London. 
1875. 

Tyler on Infancy and Coverture. 

Bingham on Infancy. 

McPherson on Infancy, L. L. N. S., Yol. 25. 

Forsyth’s Custody of Infants, L. L. 

Lascelle’s Reformatory Schools. 

Demolombe de la Minorite, Vols. 7 and 8, 1870. 

Schenler’s Domestic Relations. 

Reeve’s Domestic Relations. 

Raltigan’s Law of Persons. Civil Law. 

Ram on Natural Right of Father. London. 1828. 

Chambers on Jurisdiction of Court of Chancery of Property 
and Persons of Infants. London. 1842. 

Elsworth’s Handybook of Law of Infants. London. 1861. 

( 2 ) Reeve’s Domestic R., 194. 

Cheney v. Arnold, 15 N. Y. R., 346. 

Fenton v. Reed, 4 J. R., 52. 

Jackson v. Claw, 18 J. R., 346. 

Overseers v. Overseers, 20 J. R., 1. 

It differs only from other contracts in that it cannot be rescinded at the will of 
the parties. 

Clayton v. War dell, 4 N. Y., 230. 

Hill v. Burger, 3 Brad. R., 432. 

Hyde v. Hyde. 3 “ 609. 



8 


No legal form, religious ceremony or special mode of proof necessary. 
Cunningham v. Burdell, 4 Brad. R., 343. 

Hayes v. People, 25 N. Y. R., 390. 

Bissell v. Bissell, 55 Barb. R., 325. 



If a wife is under illegal restraint, her husband may obtain relief against it by 
the writ of habeas corpus, and thus enable the wife to select her own residence. 
But he cannot recover possession of her person against-her consent under this writ. 
Hurd on Hab. Cor., 449-452 and cases. 


He can recover the custody of her person under the writ of homine replegiando. 

1 Kent Com., 638. 

A husband may maintain an action for enticing away his wife. But if his 
conduct towards her is immoral, indecent or cruel, her parents are justified in 
receiving her and advising her to leave her husband. 

Bennett v. Smith, 21 Barb. R., 439. 

Semble that the common law right of a husband to chastise his wife does not 
exist in this state. He may, however, impose gentle restraints upon her liberty 
in proper cases. 

Hurd on H. C., 21-30. 


§ 2. Marriages between parents and children, including 
grandparents and grandchildren of every degree, ascending and 
descending, and be-tween brothers and sisters of the half as w T ell 
as the whole blood, are declared to be incestuous and absolutely 
void. This section shall extend to illegitimate as well as legi¬ 
timate children and relatives (*). 

3 Revised Statutes, p. 147, § 2. 


(i) Wightman v. Wightman, 4 Johns’ Chy. R., 343. 

Persons who marry or commit adultery or fornication with each other within 
the degrees of consanguinity, shall, upon conviction, be punished by imprisonment 
in a State prison not exceeding ten years. 

3 R. S., 965, § 17. 

1 Park. Cr., 344. 

Marriage with an illegitimate relation of a forbidden degree is invalid. 

Reeve’s D. R., 200. 



9 


§ 3. When either of the parties to a marriage shall be inca¬ 
pable for want of age(*) or understanding of consenting to a 
marriage, or shall be incapable from physical causes of entering 
into the marriage state, or when the consent of either party 
shall have been obtained by force or fraud, the marriage shall 
be void from the time its nullity shall be declared by a court of 
competent authority. 

3 Revised Statutes, p. 148, § 3. 

(') The age of consent is fourteen in males and twelve in females. 

2 Kent’s Com., 42; Reeve’s, D. R., 200. 

Bennett v. Smith, 21 Parb. R., 439. 

* Jaques v. Public, &c., 1 Brad. R., 499. 


§ 11. Every minister or magistrate who shall solemnize a 
marriage where either of the parties, within his knowledge, 
shall be under the age of legal consent, or an idiot or lunatic, 
or to which within his knowledge any legal impediment exists, 
shall be deemed guilty of a misdemeanor, punishable by fine or 
imprisonment, or both, in the discretion of the court by which 
he shall be tried ( 1 ). 

3 Revised Statutes, p. 149, §11. 

( ] ) Bissell v. Bissell, 55 Barb. R., 325. 


Divorces. 

§ 33. [Part.] The (Supreme Court) may, by a sentence of 
nullity, declare void the marriage contract for either of the 
following causes, existing at the time of the marriage: 

1. That the parties, or one of them, had not attained the age 
of legal consent ( x ). 

3 Revised Statutes, p. 153, § 33. 

p) Bennet v. Smith, 21 Barb. R., 439. 

Wightman v. Wightman, 4 Johns. Ch’y R., 343. 




10 


§ 34. The (Supreme Court) may, upon application of the wife, 
by a sentence of nullity, declare void any marriage contract, 
heretofore or hereafter made, upon evidence of the following 
facts : 

1. That the female was, at the time of the alleged marriage, 
under the age of fourteen years, and that such marriage was 
without the consent of her father, mother, guardian or other 
person having the legal charge of her person, and was an of¬ 
fense on the part of the husband, under the statute, and pun¬ 
ishable according to law. 

2. That the marriage was not followed by consummation or 
cohabitation, nor had been ratified by any mutual assent of the 
parties after the female had attained the age of fourteen 
years ( 1 ). 

^3 Revised Statutes, p. 153, § 34; Laws 1841, Ch, 257. 

(>) Bennett v. Smith, 21 Barb. R., 439. 


§ 46. If there shall be any issue of a marriage annulled on 
the ground of force or fraud, the court shall decree their cus¬ 
tody to the innocent parent, and may also decree a provision 
for their education and maintenance out of the Restate and 
property of the guilty party ( 1 ). 

3 Revised Statutes, p. 154, § 46. 

(0 A judgment awarding the children to the wife becomes inoperative at her 
death, and the father becomes entitled to their custody. 

Matter of Robinson, 17 Abb. P. R.,399, note. 

If the parent is about to leave the State, security may be required on the 
application of the other parent not to remove the children. 

People v. Paulding, 15 How. Pr. R., 167. 

Cook v. Cook, 1 Barb. Ch’y R., 639. 

Bari ere v. Barrere, 4 Johns. Ch’y R., 187. 


Limited Divorces. 

§ 67. Upon decreeing a separation in any such suit, the 




11 


court may make suck further decree as the nature and circum¬ 
stances of the case may require, and may make such order and 
decree for the suitable support and maintenance of the wife and 
her children, or any of them, by the husband, or out of his 
property, as may appear just and proper.( x ) 

3 Revised Statutes, p. 158. § 67. 

(') Meehan v. Meehan, 2 Barb. R., 377. 

Atwater v. Atwater, 53 “ 621. 

Crain v. Cavana, 62 “ 109. 

Burr v. Burr, 7 Hill R., 207. 

“ “ 10 Paige Chy. R., 20. 

Bihin v. Bihin, 17 Abb. Pr. R., 19. 

P- v. P-, 24 How. Pr. R., 197. 


§ 68. Although a decree for separation from bed and board 
be not made, the court may make such order or decree for 
the support and maintenance of the wife and her children, 
or any of them, by the husband, or out of his property, as the 
nature of the case renders suitable and proper.^) 

3 Revised Statutes, p. 158, § 68. 

( J ) Douglas v. Douglas, 5 Hun. R., 140. 

Ahrenfeldt v. Ahrenfeldt, Hoffm., 497. 

“ “ 4 Sandf. Chy. R., 493. 


Provisions Applicable to Divorces a Yinculis and a Mensa. 

§ 73. In any suit brought by a married woman for a divorce, 
or for a separation from her husband, the court in which the 
same shall be pending may, during the pendency of the cause, or 
at its final hearing, or afterwards, as occasion may require, 
make such order, as between the parties, for the custody, care 
and education of the children of the marriage, as may seem 
necessary and proper, and may, at any time thereafter, annul, 
vary, or modify such order. (*) 

3 Revised Statutes, p. 159, § 73. 


(') Jones v. Jones, 2 Barb. Chy. R., 146. 
Burritt v. Burritt, 29 Barb. R.. 124. 




12 


§ 74. Whenever the court shall make an order or a decree 
requiring a husband to provide for the maintenance of his chil¬ 
dren, or for an allowance to his wife, the court may require 
such husband to give reasonable security for such maintenance 
and allowance ; and, upon the neglect or refusal of the defend¬ 
ant to give such security, or upon the default of him and his 
surety to provide such maintenance and allowance, the court 
may sequester his personal estate, and the rents and profits of 
his real estate, and may appoint a receiver thereof, and cause 
such personal estate, and the rents and profits of such real 
estate, to be applied towards such maintenance and allowance 
as to the court shall, from time to time, seem just and reasonable. 

3 Revised Statutes, p. 159, §74. 


Guardianship of Infants Owning Lands. 

§ 5. When an estate in lands shall become vested in an in¬ 
fant, the guardianship of such infant with the rights, powers, 
and duties of a guardian in socage shall belong : 

1. To the father of the infant. 

2. If there be no father, to the mother. 


3. If there be no father or mother, to the nearest and eldest 
relative of lull age, not being under any legal incapacity : and, 
as between relatives of the same degree of consanguinity, males 
shall be preferred.^) 

2 Revised Statutes, p. 1092, § 5. 

(') McCray v. McCray, 30 Barb. R., 633. 

Sylvester v. Ralston, 31 “ “ 286. 

Thomas v. Bennett, 56 “ “ 197. 

Thacker v. Henderson, 63 “ “ 271. 

Emerson v. Spicer, 46 N. Y. R., 594. 

Fonda v. Van Home, 15 Wend. R. 631. 

Bartholomew v. Lyon, 3 Sup. Ct. R. 774. 

An action will lie for enticing a child from its father or master. 

Caughey v Smith. 47 N. Y. R., 244. 

Stuart v. Simpson, 1 Wend. R , 376. 

A guardian may inquire ii t > the detention of his ward under the writ of habeas 
corpus , but it is in the discretion of the court, whether the ward shall be restored 
to his custody. 

Hurd on Hab. Corp., 554. 




13 


§ 6. To every such guardian all statutory provisions that are 
or shall be in force, relative to guardians in socage, shall be 
deemed to apply. 

2 Revised Statutes, 1092, § 6. 


§ 7. The rights and authority of every such guardian shall 
be superseded in all cases where a testamentary or other guar¬ 
dian shall have been appointed under the provisions of the 
third title of the eighth chapter of this act. 

2 Revised Statutes, p. 1092, § 7. 


Guardians and Wards. (*) 

§ 1. Every father, whether of full age or a minor, of a child 
likely to be born, or of any living child under the age of twenty- 
one years, and unmarried, may, by his deed or last will duly 
executed ; or, in case such father shall be dead, and shall not 
have exercised his said right of appointment, then the mother, 
whether of full age or a minor, of every such child, may, by her 
deed or last will duly executed, dispose of the custody and tui¬ 
tion of such child during its minority, or for any less time, to 
any person or persons in possession or remainder.( 2 ) 

3 Revised Statutes, p. 167, § 1. 

p) The principal works on Guardian and Ward, besides the text books on the 
Domestic Relations which include this subject, are— 

Bruce on Guardian and Ward. London. 1714. 

Comstock’s Digest of Law of Guardian and Ward. Hart¬ 
ford. 1832. 

Matthews’ Guard an’s Guide. Cincinnati. 1859. 

Banks’ on Poor Law Guardian. London. 1862. 

( 2 ) People v. Gates 43 N. Y. R., 40, 

Reversing “ “ 57 Barb. R., 291. 

A grandfather has no such power. 

Fullerton v. Jackson, 5 John. Chy. R., 278. 




14 


The marriage of a widow who was the testamentary guardian of her children by 
her first marriage, annuls the guardianship, and the surrogate may make another 
appointment. 

Corrigan v. Kernan, 1 Brad. R., 208. 

People, Ac., v. Kearney, 81 Barb. R., 430. 

But no man can create a testamentary guardian unless the mother, if living, 
assents. 

3 R. S., 173, § 3. Laws 1862, Ch. 172. 

See page 23, § 3. 

Parents’ authority. 

Hernandez v. Carnobeli, 10 How. H. P., 433. 4 Duer, R., 642. 

A parent may chastise his child with moderation. If the punishment is un¬ 
reasonable and malicious, he is liable in damages. 

Hurd on Hab. Cor., 38 (2d ed.). 

He may also enforce obedience by temporary confinement. 

Ib. p. 40, and notes. 

During the life of the father, the mother can only correct a child as his represen¬ 
tative. On his death, she succeeds to his rights. 

Ib. p. 42. 

A child may have an action for battery against a parent who chastises it 
brutally. 

Reeve’s D. R., 287. 

Infants under seven years cannot be punished as criminals. Between seven 
and fourteen is an uncertain period. After fourteen they are as capable of com¬ 
mitting crimes as adults. 

Reeve’s D. R., 257. 


§2. Every sucli disposition, from the time it shall take effect, 
shall vest in the person or persons to whom it shall be made, 
all the rights and powers, and subject him or them to all the 
duties and obligations of a guardian of such minor, and shall 
be valid and effectual against every other person claiming the 
custody or tuition of such minor, as guardian in socage or 
otherwise. 

3 Revised Statutes, p. 167, § 2. 


§ 3. Any person to whom the custody of any minor is so 
disposed of, may take the custody and tuition of such minor, 
and may maintain all proper actions for the wrongful taking 






15 


or detention of the minor, and shall recover damages in such 
actions for the benefit of his ward. He shall also take the 
custody and management of the personal estate of such minor, 
and the profits of his real estate during the time for which 
such disposition shall have been made, and may bring such 
actions in relation thereto as a guardian in socage might by 
law. ( x ) 

3 Revised Statutes, p. 167, § 3. 

(*) General duties of guardian discussed, 

White v. Parker, 8 Barb. R., 48. 

* Thomas v. Bennett, 56 Barb. R., 197. 

A release to a guardian from his ward is not conclusive. Ho is not entitled 
to a discharge until one year after his ward’s majority. Fish v. Miller, Hoffman 
267. Matter of Van Horn, 7 Paige, Chy. R. 46. 


Custody of the Children of Parents who are Separated. 

§ 1. When any husband and wife Shall live in a state of 
separation, without being divorced, and shall have any minor 
child of the marriage, the wife, if she be an inhabitant of this 
State, may apply to the Supreme Court for a habeas corpus to 
have such minor child brought before it. ( x ) 

3 Revised Statutes, p. 163, § 1. 

(*.) People v. Humphreys, 24 Barb., R. 521. 

People v. -, 19 Wend. R., 16. 

Rising v. Dodge, 2 Duer, R., 42. 

People v. Chegaray, 18 Wend. R., 637. 

Hurd on Hab. Cor., 471 (2d Ed:) 


§ 2. On the return of such writ the court, on due con¬ 
sideration, may award the charge and custody of the child so 
brought before it to the mother, for such time, under such 
regulations* and restrictions, and with such provisions and 
directions, as the case may require. ( 1 ) 

3 Revised Statutes, p. 163, § 2. 

(i) People v. Chegaray. 18 Wend. R., 637. 

Pejple v. Mercein, 3 Hill, R., 399. 





16 


§ 3. At any time after the making of such order the Supreme 
Court may annul, vary, or modify the same. 

3 Revised Statutes, p. 164, § 3. 


Children Detained by the Shakers. 

§ 4. Whenever application shall be made to a justice of the 
Supreme Court by any husband or any wife, representing that 
his wife or her husband has attached himself or herself to 
the Society of Shakers, and detains a child of the marriage 
between them, the officer shall inquire into the circumstances; 
and, if satisfied bv due proof of the facts represented, he shall 
allow a writ of habeas corpus to bring such child before him. (*) 

3 Revised Statutes, p. 164, § 4. 

(i) Fowler v. Hollenbeck, 9 Barb. R., 309, illustrates the feeling against the 
Shakers. 

Matter of McDowle, 8 John, R., 328. 


§ 5. If, upon the return of any w r rit of habeas corpus so issued, 
it shall appear that any child therein mentioned, cannot be 
found, and satisfactory proof be made to the officer issuing such 
writ, that such child is secreted or concealed by or among any 
society of Shakers in this State, he may issue his warrant, 
directed to the sheriff of the county where the said child is sus¬ 
pected to be, commanding such sheriff in the daytime to search 
the dwelling-houses and other buildings of such society, or of 
any members thereof, or any other building or dwelling-house 
specified in the warrant, for such child, and to bring him before 
such officer; and the sheriff shall forthwith execute such 
warrant. 

3 Revised Statutes, p. 164, § 6. 


§ 6. When such child is brought before such officer, he may 
aw^ard the charge and custody thereof to that parent who shall 






17 


not have joined the Society of Shakers, for such time, under 
such regulations, and with such provisions and directions as 
he shall deem proper. Every such order may at any time, on 
sufficient cause shown, be annulled, varied, or modified by the 
officer who made the same; or, in case of his being absent, or 
not exercising the duties of the office, then by any other officer 
who might have originally made such order. 

3 Revised Statutes, p. 164, § 6. 


§ 7. If any member of the Society of Shakers, or any other 
person, shall send or carry, or cause to be sent or carried, any 
such child out of this State, or shall secrete such child, or 
cause such child to be secreted, within this -State, so that such 
writ cannot be executed, the person so offending shall be 
deemed guilty of a misdemeanor, and, on conviction, shall be 
fined not exceeding two hundred dollars, or be imprisoned not 
more than six months, or both. 

3 Revised Statutes, p. 164, § 7. 


Adoption. 

§ 1. Adoption, as provided for in this Act, is the legal act 
whereby an adult person takes a minor into the relation of 
child, and thereby acquires the rights and incurs the responsi¬ 
bilities of parent in respect to such minor. (') 

3 Revised Statutes, p. 165, § 1 ; Laws, 1873, ch. 830. 

(') When both parents gave a young child to an uncle and aunt, with whom it 
lived nine years as if adopted, the gift could not be revoked. 

Matter of Murphy, 12 How. P. R., 513. 

Hurd on Habeas Corpus , 540 (2d ed). 


§ 2. Any minor, child may be adopted by any adult, in the 
cases and subject to the rules prescribed in this act. 

3 Revised Statutes, p. 165, § 2. 


2 






18 


§ 3. A married man, not lawfully separated from his wife 
cannot adopt a child without the consent of his wife , and a 
married woman not lawfully separated from her husband can¬ 
not adopt a child without the consent of her husband. 

3 Revised Statutes, p. 165, § 3. 


§ 4. The consent of a child, if over the age of twelve years, 
is necessary to its adoption. ( 2 ) 

3 Revised Statutes, p. 165, § 4. 

( 2 ). The rights, interests and wishes of a child are to be considered. The father 
has no absolute right to the custody of his child. 

Matter of Gregg, 5 N. Y. Leg. Obs., 265. 

People v. Chegaray, 18 Wend. R., 637. 

2 Kent Com., 195 (m). 

Wilcox v. Wilcox, 14 N. Y. R., 575. 

People v. “ 22 Barb. R., 178. 

, Where a father places his daughter, aged 13, in the house of a woman of bad 
character, his conduct shows that he is unfit to be trusted with her. 

The law will protect children from the acts of their parents in such cases. 

In such a case the application of a father for his child under habeas corpus was 
denied, and the child committed to the Sheltering Arms. 

Matter of Clifton, 47 How. Pr. R., 172, Parents’ authority. 

Hernandez v. Carnobeli, 10 How. P. R.,433. 4 Duer, R., 642. 

The custody of a child is not to be determined by its caprice. The welfare of 
the infant will guide the court. If the parent abuses his trust grossly, he 
forfeits it. 

Hurd on Habeas Corpus, 456, 531 (2d ed.). 

2 Story, Eq. Jur., § 1341. 

There is no fixed age at which the wishes of the child must be consulted. The 
court will consider the intelligencp and information of the child in each case. 

Hurd on Habeas Corpus, p. 535. 

Parents’ right-to chastise, lb., p. 38. 

Custody of Children, 2 U. S. Monthly Law Mag. 515. 1850. 


§ 5. Except in the cases provided for in the next section, a 
legitimate child cannot be adopted without the consent of its 
parents, if living, or the survivor, if one is dead ; nor an ille¬ 
gitimate child without the consent of its mother, if she is living. 

3 Revised Statutes, p. 165, § 5. 






19 


§ 6. The consent provided for by the last section is not 
necessary from a father or mother deprived of civil rights, or 
adjudged guilty of adultery or cruelty, and who is, for either 
cause divorced; or is adjudged to be an insane person, or an 
habitual drunkard, or is judicially deprived of the custody of 
the child on account of cruelty or neglect. 

3 Revised Statutes, p. 165, § 6. 


§ 7. When the child to be adopted has neither father nor 
mother living, or whose consent, if living, is made unnecessary 
by the provisions of the last section, such consent must be given 
by an adult person having the lawful custody of the child. 

3 Revised Statutes, p. 165, § 7. 


§ 8. The person adopting a child, and the child adopted, and 
the other persons whose consent is necessary, shall appear be¬ 
fore the county judge of the county in which the person adopt¬ 
ing resides, and the necessary consent shall thereupon be 
signed, and an agreement be executed by the person adopting, 
to the effect that the child shall be adopted, and treated in all 
respects as his own lawful child should be treated. 

3 Revised Statutes, p. 165, § 8. 


§ 9. The judge shall examine all persons appearing before 
him pursuant to the last section, each separately, and if satis¬ 
fied that the moral and temporal interests of the child will be 
promoted by the adoption, he shall make an order in which 
shall be set forth, at length, the reasons for such order, direct¬ 
ing that the child shall thenceforth be regarded and treated in 
all respects'as the child of the person adopting. 

3 Revised Statutes, p. 165, § 9. 


§ 10. A child, when adopted, shall take the name of the per¬ 
son adopting, and the two thenceforth shall sustain toward each 
other the legal relation of parent and child, and have all the 
rights and be subject to all the duties of that relation, except- 






20 


ing the right of inheritance, except that as respects the pass¬ 
ing and limitations over of real and personal property, under 
and by deeds, conveyances, wills, devises and trusts, said child 
adopted shall not be deemed to sustain the legal relation of 
child to the person so adopting. 

3 Revised Statutes, p. 166, § 10; Laws, 1873, Ch. 830. 


§ 11. Whenever a parent has abandoned or shall abandon 
an infant child, such parent shall be deemed to have forfeited 
all claim that he or she would otherwise have, as the custody 
of said child or otherwise, against any person who has taken, 
adopted, and assumed, the maintenance of such child ; and in 
such case the person so adopting, taking and assuming the 
maintenance of such child, may adopt it under the provisions 
of this act, with the same effect as if the consent of such parent 
had been obtained. In all cases of abandonment after this act 
takes effect, the person adopting shall proceed under the pro¬ 
visions of this act within six months after he or she has as¬ 
sumed the maintenance of such child ; in such case of aban¬ 
donment, the county judge may make the order provided for in 
this act without the consent of such parent or parents. 

3 Revised Statutes, p. 166, § 11. 


§ 12. The parents of an adopted child are, from the time of 
the adoption, relieved from all parental duties toward, and of 
all responsibility for, the child so adopted, and have no rights 
over it. 

3 Revised Statutes, p. 166, § 12. 


§ 13. Nothing herein contained shall prevent proof of the adop¬ 
tion of any child heretofore made according to any method 
practised in this State, from being received in evidence, nor 
such adoption from having the effect of an adoption hereunder; 
but no child shall hereafter be adopted except under the pro¬ 
visions of this act; nor shall any child that has been adopted 
be deprived of the rights of adoption, except upon a proceeding 






21 


for that purpose, with the like sanction and consent as is re¬ 
quired for an act of adoption under the eighth section hereof; 
and any agreement and consent in respect to such adoption, or 
abrogation thereof hereafter to be made, shall be in writing, 
signed by such county judge, or a judge of the Supreme Court’ 
and the same, or a duplicate thereof, shall be filed with the 
clerk of the county, and recorded in the book of miscellane¬ 
ous records, wherein the same shall be made, and a copy of the 
same, certified by such clerk, may be used in evidence in all 
legal proceedings ; but nothing in this act contained in regard 
to such adopted child inheriting from the person adopting, shall 
apply to any devise or trust now made, or already created; nor 
shall this act in any manner change, alter, or interfere with such 
will, devise, or said trust or trusts, and as to any such will, de¬ 
vise, or trust, said adopted child shall not be deemed an heir 
so as to alter estates, or trusts, or devises in wills already 
made, or trusts already created. 

3 Revised Statutes, p. 166, § 13. 


Bastards. (*) 

§ 2. The reputed father and mother of every bastard shall 
be liable for its support; in their default or inability, it shall be 
supported by the county or town in which it shall be born, as 
hereinafter provided. ( 2 ) 

2 Revised Statutes, p. 898, § 2. 

(>) The principal works on Bastardy or Illegitimacy are— 

Croke’s Essay on Illegitimacy. London. 1800. 

Robertson’s Essay on Legitimacy by Subsequent Marriage. 
London. 1800. 

Nicholas’ Law of Adultery and Bastardy. London. 1826. 
Macqueen on Marriage, Divorce and Legitimacy. 

Saunders on Law of Bastardy. 1848. 

Lumley’s Treatise on Bastardy Act.. London. 1845. 
Wrightman on Marriage and Legitimacy. London. 1871. 
Law of Illegitimate Children. 9 and 10, Legal Observer, 
p. 123. 1834, 1835. 

(*) People v. Moores, 4 Den. R., 518. 

Sprague v. Eccleston, 1 Lans. R., 74. 



The mother of a bastard has a right to its control and custody as against the 
putative father. 

Matter of Doyle, Clarke, 154. 

Carpenter v. Whitman, 15 Johns. R., 208. 

People v. Ivling, 6 Barb. R., 306. 

Robalina v. Armstrong, 15 Barb. R., 247. 

In case of ill treatment the court will remove the bastard on habeas corpus 
from its mother, and commit it to its father. 

People v. Landt, 2 Johns. R., 375. 

See Hurd on Hab. Cor., 522, 530, for the custody of illegitimate children. 


Masters and Apprentices and Servants.^) 

§ 1. Every male infant, and every unmarried female under 
the age of eighteen years, with the consent of the persons or 
officers hereinafter mentioned, may, of his or her own free will, 
bind himself or herself, in writing, to serve as clerk, apprentice, 
or servant, in any profession, trade, or employment; if a male, 
until the age of twenty-one years, and if a female, until the 
age of eighteen years, or for any shorter time ; and such bind¬ 
ing shall be as valid and effectual as if such infant was of full 
age at the time of making such engagement. ( 2 ) 

3 Revised Statutes, p. 173, § 1. 

(') The principal woiks on Apprentices are— 

Chitty on Apprentices. 

Lumley Law of Apprentices, London. 1845. 

On Master and Servant— 

Smith on Master and Servant. 

MacDonald on Master and Servant, &c. 

Huntingford Law of Master and Servant. London. 1790. 

Bird Law of Master and Servant. London. 1817. 

Hertslett Law of Master and Servant. London. 1850. 

Spike Law of Master and Servant. , 1855. 

Baylis Duties and Relations of Domestic Servants. Lon¬ 
don. 1861. 

( 2 ) 2 Kent Com., 262. 

There are evening free schools for apprentices aud others in New York city. 

The operation of a contract of apprenticeship is local. The apprentice cannot 
be removed from the State. 

Hurd on Hab. Cor., 47 and cases (2d ed). 

See Hurd on Hab. Cor., 549, for cases in which the apprentice has been re¬ 
turned to the master under this writ. 




23 


The right of the master to an apprentice is personal and cannot be assigned. 
Reeve’s D. R., 344. 

The master may have habeas corpus for his apprentice, but the court is not 
bound to deliver him to the custody of the master. 

Hurd on H. C.. 553. 


§ 2. Sack consent shall be given— 

1. By the father of the infant. If he be dead, or be not in 
a legal capacity to give bis consent, or if he shall have aban¬ 
doned and neglected to provide for his family, and such fact be 
certified by a justice of the peace of the town, and endorsed 
on the indenture, then— 

2. By the mother. If the mother be dead, or be not in a 
legal capacity to give such consent, or refuse, then— 

3. By the guardian of such infant duly appointed. If such 
infant have no parent living, or none in a legal capacity to give 
consent, and there be no guardian, then— 

4. By the overseers of the poor, or any two justices of the 
peace of the town, or any judge of the county courts of the 
county where such infant shall reside. 

3 Revised Statutes, p. 173, § 2. 


§ 3. No man shall bind his child to apprenticeship, or service, 
or part with the control of such child, or create any testamen¬ 
tary guardian therefor, unless the mother, if living, shall in 
writing signify her assent thereto. (*) 

3 Revised Statutes, p. 173, § 3; Laws, 1862, Ch. 172, § 6. 

(') The mother may consent when the father is dead without a certificate of a 
justice. 

People v. Gates, 43 N. Y. R., 40. 


§ 4. Such consent shall he signified in writing by the person 
entitled to give the same, by a certificate at the end of, or en¬ 
dorsed upon, the indentures, and not otherwise. 

3 Revised Statutes, p. 173, § 4. 




24 


§ 5. The executors of any last will of a father, who shall be 
directed in such will to bring up his child to some trade or 
calling, may bind such child to service, as a clerk or apprentice, 
in like manner as the father might have done, if living. 

3 Revised Statutes, p. 173, § 5. 


§ 6. The county superintendents of the poor, in the several 
counties, may bind out any child,under the ages above speci¬ 
fied, who shall be sent to any county poor-house, or who is or 
shall become chargeable, or whose parent or parents are or 
shall become chargeable to such county, to be clerks, appren¬ 
tices, or servants, until such child, if a male, shall be twenty- 
one years old, or if a female, shall be eighteen years old ; which 
binding shall be as effectual as if such child had bound himself 
with the consent of his father. (*) 

3 Revised Statutes, p. 173, § 6. 

(*) People v. Hoster, 14 Abb. Pr. R. 1ST. S., 414. 

People v. Weissenbach, 60 N. Y. R., 385. 


§ 7. The overseers of the poor of any town or city may, in like 
manner, bind out any such child, who, or whose parent or parents, 
shall become chargeable to such town or city, or who shall 
have been sent to any poor-house, other than the county poor- 
house, with the consent in writing of any two justices of the 
peace of the town, or of the mayor, recorder, and aldermen of 
any city, or of any two of them. 

3 Revised Statutes, p. 173, § 7. 


§ 8. No child of an Indian woman shall be bound as an ap- 
apprentice, under the provisions of this title, except in the 
presence and with the consent of a justice of the peace ; a 
certificate of which consent, signed by a justice, shall be filed 
with the clerk of the town in which the indenture of appren¬ 
ticeship shall be executed. 

3 Revised Statutes, p. 174, § 8. 







25 


§ 9. The age of every infant so bound shall be inserted in 
the indentures, and shall be taken to be the tiue age, without 
further proof thereof; and whenever any public officers are 
authorized to execute any indentures, or their consent is required 
to the validity of the same, it shall be their duty to inform them¬ 
selves fully of the infant’s age. (*) 

8 Revised Statutes, p. 174, § 9. 

(') An apprentice is not concluded by the statement of his age in the indenture, 
but may prove that he has attained his majority. 

Drew v. Peckwell, 1 E. D. Smi'h, R., 408. 

Banks v. Metcalfe, 1 Wheel., Cr. Cns., 381. 

Matter of Brennan, 1 Sandf., S. C., 711. 


§ 10. Every sum of money paid or agreed for, with, or in 
relation to, the binding out of any clerk or apprentice, shall be 
inserted in the indentures. 

8 Revised Statutes, p. 174, § 10. 


§ 11. Whenever any child shall be bound out by the county 
superintendents of the poor of any county, or by the overseers 
of the poor of any city or town, the indentures shall contain an 
agreement on the part of the person to whom such child shall 
be bound, that he will cause such child to be instructed to read 
and write, and if a male, will cause him to be instructed in the 
general rules of arithmetic ; and every such indenture shall 
also contain an agreement that the master will give to such 
apprentice, at the expiration of his or her service, a new Bible- 
3 Revised Statutes, p. 174, §11. 


§ 12. The counterpart of any indentures executed by the 
county superintendents of the poor shall be by them deposited 
in the office of the clerk of the county; and the counterpart of 
such indentures executed by any overseers of the poor, shall 
be by them deposited in the office of the clerk of their city and 
town. 


3 Revised Statutes, p. 174, § 12. 





26 


§ 13. Any person coming from any foreign country bey on 
sea, may bind himself to service, if an infant, until he attain 
the age of twenty-one years,or for a shorter term. Such con¬ 
tract of service, if made for the purpose of raising money to 
pay his passage, or for the payment of such passage, may be 
for the term of one year, although such term may extend 
beyond the time when such person will be of full age; but it 
shall in no case be for a longer term. 

3 Revised Statutes, p. 174, § 13. 


§ 14. No contract made under the last section shall bind the 
servant, unless it be acknowledged by him before some mayor, 
recorder, or aldermen of a city, or before some justice of the 
peace ; nor unless a certificate of such acknowledgment, and 
that the same was made freely, on a private examination, be 
endorsed upon such contract. 

3 Revised Statutes, p. 174, § 14. 


§ 15. The contracts specified in the two last sections may 
be assigned by the master, by an instrument in writing endorsed 
thereon, executed in the presence .of two witnesses ; if such 
assignment be approved of, in writing, by any magistrate men¬ 
tioned in the preceding section, and such approbation shall be 
also endorsed on tli9 contract. 

3 Revised Statutes, p. 174, § 15. 


§ 16. On and after the passage of this act, it shall not be 
lawful for any person or persons in this State to employ or take 
as an apprentice any minor person to learn the art or mystery 
of any trade or craft, without first having obtained the consent 
of such person’s legal guardian or guardians; nor shall any 
minor person be taken as an apprentice aforesaid, unless an 
agreement or indenture be drawn up in writing, in accordance 
with the provisions of this act, and duly executed under seal 








27 


by the person or persons employing said apprentice ; and also 
by the parents or parent, if any be living, or by the guardian 
or guardians of said apprentice, and likewise by said minor 
person so becoming an apprentice. 

3 Revised Statutes, p. 174, § 16 ; Laws, 1871, Ch. 934. 


§ 17. Said agreement or indenture, in order to make the 
law valid, shall contain the following covenants and provisions: 

1. That said minor person shall be bound to serve his em¬ 
ployer or employers for a term of not less than three or more 
than five years. 

2. That said minor person so indentured shall not leave his 
said employer or employers, during the term for which he shall 
be indentured, and if any said apprentice so indentured as 
aforesaid shall leave his said employer or employers, except as 
hereinafter provided, the said employer or employers may com¬ 
pel the return of the said apprentice under the penalties of this 
act. 

3. That said employer or employers shall covenant and agree 
in said indenture to provide, at all times, daring the continuance 
of the same suitable and proper board, lodging and medical at¬ 
tendance for said apprentice, and said employer or employers 
shall also further covenant and agree to teach, or cause to be 
carefully and skillfully taught to his or their said apprentice 
every branch of his or their business to which said apprentice 
may be indentured, and said employer or employers shall be 
further bound, at the expiration of said apprenticeship, to give 
to said apprentice a certificate in writing, stating that said ap¬ 
prentice has served a full term of apprenticeship of not less 
than three or more than five years, at such trade or craft as 
may be specified in said indenture. 

3 Revised Statutes, p. 175, § 17. Laws, 1871, Ch. 934. 



28 


§ 18. Any person or persons taking an apprentice without 
complying with the provisions of this act, shall be deemed guilty 
of a misdemeanor, and on conviction thereof in the court of 
sessions of general or special sessions, held in and for the 
county in which the business of said employer or employers 
may be conducted, shall be subject to a fine of not less than 
five hundred dollars, the fine to be paid to the treasurer of said 
county for the use and benefit of said county. 

3 Revised Statutes, p. 175, § 18. 


§ 19. Any and all indentures made under and in pursuance 
of the provisions of this act shall not be canceled or annulled 
before the expiration of the term of said indentures, except in 
case of death ; or, by the order of or judgment of the county or 
supreme court of this state for good cause, and any apprentice 
so indentured who shall leave his employer or employers with¬ 
out his or their consent, or without sufficient cause, and shall 
refuse to return, may be arrested upon the complaint of said 
employer or employers, and taken before any magistrate having 
jurisdiction of misdemeanors, who may cancel said indentures, 
and on conviction commit said apprentice to the house of cor¬ 
rection, house of refuge, or county jail, in and for said county? 
fbr such length of time as such magistrate may deem just, or 
until said apprentice shall have attained the age of twenty-one 
years; and in case said apprentice so indentured shall wilfully 
neglect or refuse to perform his portion of the contract as spe¬ 
cified in said indenture, then said indenture may be canceled 
in the manner aforesaid, and said apprentice so violating said 
indentures shall forfeit all back pay and all claims against said 
emploj’er or employers, and said indentures shall be canceled. 

3 Revised Statutes, p. 175, § 19. 


§ 20. Should any employer or employers neglect or refuse to 
teach, or cause to be taught to said apprentice the art or mys¬ 
tery of the trade or craft to which said apprentice has been in- 




29 


dentured, or fail at any time to provide suitable and proper 
board, and lodging and medical attendance, said apprentice in¬ 
dividually, or his parent or parents, guardian or guardians, may 
bring an action against said employer or employers, to recover 
damages sustained by reason of said neglect or refusal; and, if 
proved to the satisfaction of the court, said court shall direct 
said indentures to be canceled, and may impose a fine on said 
employer or employers, not exceeding one thousand and not 
less than one hundred dollars, and said fine shall be collected 
and paid over to said apprentice or his parent or guardian, for 
his sole use and benefit. 

3 Revised Statutes, p. 175, § 20. 


§ 21. Any indentures made and executed, wherein parts con¬ 
flict with, or are not in accordance with the provisions of this 
act, shall be invalid and without any binding effect. 

3 Revised Statutes, p. 176, § 21. 


§ 22. All acts or parts of acts inconsistent herewith are here 
by repealed. 

3 Revised Statutes, 176, § 22. 


General Provisions Kelating to Masters and Apprentices. 

§ 38. No indenture or contract for the service of any appren¬ 
tice shall be valid as against the person whose services may be 
claimed, unless made in the manner before prescribed in this 
title. 

3 Revised Statutes, p. 178, § 38. 


§ 39. The county superintendents of the poor, and the over¬ 
seers of the poor of the respective cities or towns, shall be the 
guardian of every person bound or held in service in their re- 





30 


spective cities or towns, to take care that the terms of the con¬ 
tract of service be fulfilled, and that such person be properly 
used ; and it is hereby made their special duty to inquire into 
the treatment of every such person, and redress any grievance 
in the manner prescribed by law. 

3 Revised Statutes, p. 1 VS, § 39. 


§ 40. If any person, lawfully bound to service under either of 
the preceding articles of this title, shall wilfully absent himself 
from such service, without the leave of his master, he shall be 
compelled to serve double the time of such absence, unless he 
shall otherwise make satisfaction for the loss and injury sus¬ 
tained by such absence; but such additional term of service 
shall not extend beyond three years next after the end of the 
original term of service. 

3 Revised Statutes, p. 178, § 40. 


§ 41. If any such person shall refuse to serve according to the 
provisions of this title, or the terms of his contract or indent* 
ures, his master may apply to any justice of the peace of the 
county, or to the mayor, recorder or any alderman of the city 
where he shall reside, who shall be authorized by warrant or 
otherwise to send for the person so refusing, and if such refusal 
be persisted in, to commit such person by warrant to the bride¬ 
well, house of correction or common jail of the city or county, 
there to remain until such person will consent to serve accord¬ 
ing to law. (*) 

3 Revised Statutes, p, 179, § 41. 

( ) Schermerhorn v. Hull, 13 Johns., R., 270. 


§42. On complaint being made on oath by any master, 
touching any misdemeanor or ill behavior of any such person, 
to any two justices of the peace of the county, or to the mayor, 
recorder and alderman of any city, or any two of them, it shall 
be their duty to cause the person complained of to be brought 
before them, and to hear, examine and determine the complaint. 

3 Revised Statutes, p. 179, §42. 





31 


§43. If the complaint appear to be well founded, the said 
officers may by warrant commit the offender to the house of 
correction, or to the common jail of the county, for any term 
not exceeding one month, there to be employed in hard labor, 
and to be confined in a room with no other person ; or they 
may, by a certificate under their hands, discharge the offender 
from his service, and the master from all obligations to such 
offender. 

3 Revised Statutes, p. 179, § 43. 


§44. If any master shall be guilty of any cruelty, misusage, 
refusal of necessary provisions or clothing, or any other viola¬ 
tion of the provisions of this title,* or of the terms of the in¬ 
denture or contract, towards any such person so bound to ser¬ 
vice, such person may make complaint to any two of the offi¬ 
cers specified in the preceding thirtieth section, who shall 
summon the parties before them, and examine into, hear and 
determine the complaint, and by certificate under their hands, 
discharge such person from his obligation of service. (*) 

3 Revised Statutes, p. 179, §44. 

(’) The master may chastise his apprentice as a father would his son, moderately 
and for lawful cause. This authority is personal aud cannot be delegated. 

People v. Philips, 1 Wheel. Cr., Cas., 155. 

A master is guilty of assault and battery who chastises an apprentice for attend¬ 
ing a trial to testify. Not oven a parent, could do this. The subpoena places the 
child under the protection of the court, which is paramount. 

People v. Sniffen, 1 Wheel. Cr. Cas., 502. 

See Hurd on Ilab. Cor., pp. 38, 49 (2d ed.) 

A master cannot justify a wounding of his servant. 

Reeve’s, D. R., 375. 


§ 45. The preceding five sections shall not extend to any ap¬ 
prentice whose master or mistress shall have received, or shall 
be entitled to receive, any sum of money with him, as a com¬ 
pensation for his instruction. 

3 Revised Statutes, p. 179, § 45. 




32 


§ 46. In cases where money Avas paid, or agreed to be paid, 
on the binding out of any clerk or apprentice, the like com¬ 
plaint may be made by any person so bound to service, to any 
justice of the peace of the county, or any mayor, recorder or 
alderman of the city in which he shall reside, who shall inquire 
into the matter, and make such order and direction between the 
master and the person bound to service, as the equity of the 

case may require. 

3 Revised Statutes, p. 179, §46. 


§ 47. If the difficulty cannot be compounded or reconciled, 
such officer shall take a recognizance from the master for his 
appearance at the next court of sessions of such county, in 
such sum and with such sureties as he shall appro\ T e. 

3 Revised Statutes, p. 179, § 47. 


§ 48. Upon a hearing of the parties, the court may discharge 
the person so bound to service, from his obligation, by a rule 
to be entered in their minutes; and may order any sum of 
money that shall ha\ r e been paid or agreed for on the binding 
out of such person, or any part thereof, to be refunded, if paid, 
to him who advanced the same, or his personal representative ; 
and if not paid, they may, by order, discharge the same, and 
direct any securities that may have been given therefor to be 
delivered up or canceled. 

3 Revised Statutes, p. 179, § 48. 


§ 49. The master of any person so bound to service, where 
any money Avas paid or agreed to be paid on such binding out, 
may in the same manner make complaint of the misbehavior 
of any such person, to any such officer, Avho shall proceed in 
the same manner to inquire into the same ; and he may take a 
recognizance from the person bound to service, for his appear¬ 
ance at the next court of sessions. 

3 Revised Statutes, p. 180, §49. 





33 


§ 50. The court may in like manner discharge such person 
from service, and order the refunding of any money so paid or 
agreed to be paid, and the canceling of any securities; and 
may punish such person by fine or imprisonment, or both, 
as for a misdemeanor. 

3 Revised Statutes, p. 180, § 50. 


§ 51. No person shall accept from any journeyman or ap¬ 
prentice any contract or agreement, nor cause him to be bound 
by oath or otherwise, that after his term of service expired such 
journeyman or apprentice shall not set up his trade, profession 
or employment, in any particular place, shop, house or cellar ; 
nor shall any person exact from any journeyman or apprentice 
after his term of service expired, any money or other thing for 
using and exercising his trade, profession or employment, in 
any place. 

3 Revised Statutes, p. 180, §49. 


§ 52. Every security given contrary to the provisions con¬ 
tained in the last section shall be void; any money paid or 
valuable thing delivered for the consideration, in part or in 
whole, of any such agreement or exaction, may be recovered 
back by the person paying the same, with interest; and every 
person accepting such agreement, causing such obligation to be 
entered into, or exacting money or other thing as aforesaid, 
shall forfeit one hundred dollars to the apprentice or journey¬ 
man from whom the same shall have been received. 

3 Revised Statutes, p. 180, § 52. 


§ 53. Upon the death of any master to whom any person 
may have been bound to service as clerk, apprentice, or other¬ 
wise, by the county superintendents of the poor or by the over¬ 
seers of the poor, the executors or administrators of such mas¬ 
ter may, with the consent of the person bound to service, sig¬ 
nified in writing and acknowledged before a justice of the 
3 






34 


peace, assign the contract of such service to any other person, 

which assignment shall vest in such assignee all the rights ot 

the original master, and render him subject to all his obliga¬ 


tions. 


3 Revised Statutes, p. 180, § 53. 


§ 54. If the person so bound to service, refuse to give such 
consent, such assignment may be made under the sanction of 
an order of the Court of Sessions, after fourteen days’ notice of 
an application to that effect, served on the apprentice, his 
parent or guardian, if there be any in the county ; and when so 
made, such assignment shall be as valid and effectual as if such 
consent had been given in manner aforesaid. 

3 Revised Statutes, p. 180, § 54. 


§ 55. The provisions of this title shall apply as well to mis¬ 
tresses, female guardians, apprentices and wards, respectively, 
as to masters, male guardians, apprentices and wards. 

3 Revised Statutes, p. 180, § 65. 


Merchant Seamen—Apprentices. 

§. 4509. Every Shipping Commissioner appointed under 
this title, shall, if applied to for the purpose af apprenticing 
boys to the sea-service by any master or owner of a vessel or 
by any person legally qualified, give such assistance as is in his 
power for facilitating the making of such apprenticeships ; but 
the Shippiug Commissioner shall ascertain that the boy has 
voluntarily consented to be bound, and that the parents or 
guardian of such boy have consented to such apprenticeship, 
and that he has attained the age of tw r elve years, and is of suffi¬ 
cient health and strength, and that the master to whom such 
boy is to be bound is a proper person for the purpose, such 





35 


apprenticeship shall terminate when the apprentice becomes 
eighteen years of age. The Shipping Commissioner shall keep 
a register of all indentures of apprenticeship made before him. 
U. S. Revised Statutes, p. 877, § 4509. 


§. 4510. The master of every foreign-going vessel shall, 
before carrying any apprentice to sea from any place in the 
United States, cause such apprentice to appear before the 
Shipping Commissioner, before whom the crew is engaged, and 
shall produce to him the indenture by which such apprentice 
is bound, and the assignment or assignments thereof, if any ; 
and the name of the apprentice with the date of the indenture 
and of the assignment or assignments thereof if any, shall be 
entered on the agreement; which shall be in the form as near 
as may be given in the table marked “ A ” in the schedule an¬ 
nexed to this title; and no such assignment shall be made 
without the approval of a commissioner, of the apprentice and 
of his parents or his guardian. For any violation of this section, 
the master shall be liable to a penalty of not more than one 
hundred dollars. 

U. S. Revised Statutes,' p. 878, § 4510. 



PART II 


Of Certain Eights and Obligations 

of Infants. 


Citizenship. 

§ 1993. All children heretofore born or hereafter born out of 
the limits and jurisdiction of the United States, whose fathers 
were or may be at the time of their birth citizens thereof, are 
declared to be citizens of the United States ; but the” rights 
of citizenship shall not descend to children whose fathers never 
resided in the United States. 

U. S. Revised Statutes, page 351, § 1993. 


§ 2168. When any alien who has complied with the first 
condition specified in section twenty-one hundred and sixty- 
five, dies before he is actually naturalized, the widow and child¬ 
ren of such alien shall be considered as citizens of the United 
States, and shall be entitled to all rights and privileges as 
such, upon taking the oaths prescribed by law. 

U. S. Revised Statutes, page 382, § 2168. 


§ 2172. The children of persons who have been duly natur¬ 
alized, under any law of the United States, or who, previousjto 
the passing of any law on that subject by the government of the 





37 


United States, may have become citizens of any one of the 
States under the laws thereof, being under the age of twenty- 
one years at the time of the naturalization of their parents, 
shall, if dwelling in the United States, be considered as citizens 
thereof, and the children of persons who now are or have been 
citizens of the United States shall, though born out of the 
limits and jurisdiction of the United States, be considered as 
citizens thereof, but no person heretofore proscribed by any 
State, or who has been legally convicted of having joined the 
army of Great Britain during the revolutionary war, shall be 
admitted to become a citizen without the consent of the legis¬ 
lature of the State in which such person was proscribed. 

U. S. Revised Statutes, page 382, § 2172. 


Persons Subject to Military Duty. 

§ 1116. Recruits enlisting in the army must be effective and 
able-bodied men and between the ages of sixteen and thirty- 
five years at the time of their enlistment. This limitation as 
to age shall not apply to soldiers re-enlisting. 

U. S. Revised Statutes, page 204, § 1116. 


Sec. 1117. No person under the age of twenty one years 
shall be enlisted or mustered into the military service of the 
United States without the written consent of his parents or 
guardians, provided that such minor has such parents or guar¬ 
dians entitled to his custody and control. 

U. S. Revised Statutes, p. 205, § 1117. 


Sec. 1118. [Part only.] pio minor under the age of sixteen 
years shall be enlisted or mustered into the military service. 

U. S. Revised Statutes, p. 205, § 1118. 







38 


Sec. 1625. Every able-bodied male citizen of the respective 
States, resident therein, who is of the age of eighteen years,, 
and under the age of forty-five years, shall be enrolled in the 
militia. 

U. S. Revised Statutes, p. 285, § 1625. 


Sec. 1. [Part only.] All able-bodied male citizens, and males 
of foreign birth who shall have declared their intentions to be¬ 
come citizens, between the ages of eighteen and forty-five 
years, residing in this State, and not exempted by laws of the 
United States, shall be subject to military duty, excepting 
5: Idiots, lunatics, paupers, habitual drunkards, and persons 
convicted of infamous crimes ( 1 ). 

1 Revised Statutes, 765, § 1 , Laws 1870, Ch. 80, as amended 
1872, Ch. 91. 

( ! ) It is lawful to enlist a minor as a musician with the consent of his father. 

Ex parte Brown, 5 Crancli C., Ct. R., 554. 

Although*the enlistment of an infant is void, if he deserts from actual service- 
he may be treated as a deserter. 

Wilbur v. Grace, 12 Johns R., 68. 

Matter of Carlton, 7 Cow. R., 471. 

Matter of Sullivan, 1 N. Y. Leg. Obs., 314. 

Congress may authorize the enlistment of minors into the navy without the- 
consent of their parents. 

United States v. Bainbridge, 1 Mass.. 71, 

and has power to prohibit State courts from interfering by habeas corpus with 
enlistments. 

Matter of O’Connor, 48 Barb., 258. 

See 2 Abb. National Big., 238. 

A minor enlisting under the Act of Congress of 16th March, 1806, without the- 
consent of his parents, will be released on habeas corpus , citing 9 Johns., 239; 
9 Cowen, 471 ; Cooke 143; 11 Mass., 67, Id., 63; 2 Hall’s Law Journal, 192; 1 
Johnson’s Cases, 136. 

Arkansas Circuit, matter of Keeler, Hempst, 306. 

See case of Shorner, 2 Car. Repos., 55. 

A minor who enlists as a volunteer cannot be held in custody before the 
regiment is mustered into service. 

Where a minor swears that he is over eighteen, his enlistment without consent of 
his parents is binding. 

Reilly’s case, 2 Abb. Pr. N. S., 334, overruling Matter of 
Webb, 24 How., Pr. 247 ; and Matter of Beswick, 25 How_ 
Pr. 149. 



39 


A person who wrongfully entices a minor to enlist as his substitute, and without 
consent of the father of the minor, may be held liable in an action for damages by 
the father. 

Caughey v. Smith, 47 N. Y., 244; and see a previous decision 
50 Barb., 351. 

See the reporter’s note to this decision (47 N. Y, 259), giving the decisions pro 
and con on the question whether a minor over eighteen years of age, may enlist in 
the military service of the United States without the consent of his father, tfcc. 


Naval Service. 

Sec. 1418 [part only]. Boys between the ages of sixteen and 
eighteen years may be enlisted to serve in the navy until 
they shall arrive at the age of twenty-one years. 

U. S. Revised Statutes, p. 249, § 1418. 


Sec. 1419. Minors between the age of sixteen and eighteen 
years shall not be enlisted for the naval service without the 
consent of their parents or guardians. 

U. S. Revised Statutes, p. 249, § 1419. 


Sec. 1420. No minor under the age of sixteen years, no insane 
or intoxicated person, and no deserter from the naval or mili¬ 
tary service of the United States, shall be enlisted in the naval 
service. 

U. S. Revised Statutes,^ page 249, § 1420. 


Wills of Personal Estate. 

Sec. 23. Every male person of the age of eighteen years or up¬ 
wards, and every female of the age of sixteen years or upwards, 
of sound mind and memory, and no others, may give and be¬ 
queath his or her personal estate, by will in writing ( x ). 

3 Revised Statutes, p. 60, § 23. 

(>) Lands sold under a power in a will are regarded as personal estate, and may 
be disposed of by will by an infant of eighteen. 

Horton v. McCoy, 47 N. Y. R., 21. 


\ 






40 


Persons leaving Relatives shall not give Charitable 
Societies more than half their Estates. 

Sec. 4. No person having a husband, wife, child or parent, shall, 
by his or her last will and testament, devise or bequeath to any 
benevolent, charitable, literary, scientific, religious or mission¬ 
ary society, association or corporation, in trust or otherwise, 
more than one-half part of his or her estate, after the payment 
of his or her debts (and such devise and bequest shall be valid 
to the extent of one-half and no more) ( x ). 

3 Revised Statutes, p. 58, §4, Laws, 1860, ch. 360. 

( ! ) Chamberlain v. Chamberlain, 43 N\ Y. R., 424. 

“ “ 3 Lansing R., 349. 

Bascom v. Albertson, 34 N. Y. R., 616. 

Harris v. Bible Society, 4 Abb. Pr. R. N\ S., 421. This is a 
decision of the Court of Appeals. 


Wages of Minors. 

Sec. 8. It shall be necessary for the parents or guardians of 
such minor children as may be in service, to notify the party 
employing such minor, within thirty days after the commence¬ 
ment of such service, that said parent or guardian claims the 
wages of such minor, and in default of such notice, payment to 
,such minor shall be valid ( 2 ). 

3 Revised Statutes, p. 164, § 8: Laws 1850, Ch. 266. 

( 2 ) Armstrong v. McDonald, 10 Barb. R., 300. 

Clinton v. Rowland, 24 “ “ 634. 

Gates v. Davenport, 29 “ “ 160. 

Herrick v. Fritcher, 4V “ “ 589. 

Shute v. Dorr, 5 Wend. R., 204. 

McCoy v. Huffman, 8 Cow. R., 84. 

Canover v. Cooper, 3 Barb. R., 115. 

Burlingame v. Burlingame, 7 Cow. R., 92. 

Shirley v. Bennett, 6 Lans. R., 512. 


Deposits in Savings Banks by Minors. 

§ 391. Whenever any deposit shall ,be made by or in the 
name of any person being a minor, or a female, being or there- 


41 


after becoming a married woman, the same shall be held for 
the exclusive right and benefit of such depositor, and free from 
the control or lien of all persons whatsoever, except creditors, 
and shall be paid, together with the dividends or interest 
thereon, to the person in whose name the deposit shall have 
been made, and the receipt or acquittance of such minor or 
female shall be a valid and sufficient release and discharge for 
such deposit, or any part thereof to the corporation. And 
whenever any deposit shall be made by any person in trust for 
another, and no other or further notice of the existence and 
terms of a legal and valid trust shall have been given in writing 
to the bank, in the event of the death of the trustee, the same, 
or any part thereof, together with dividends or interest thereon, 
may be paid to the person for whom the said deposit was 
made. 

2 Revised Statutes, p. 378, § 391; Laws 1875, Ch. 371. 


Pensions. 

§ 4702. If any person embraced within the provisions of sec¬ 
tions forty-six hundred and ninety-two and forty-six hundred 
and ninety-three has died since the fourth day of March, 
eighteen hundred and sixty-one, or hereafter dies by reason of 
any wound, injury, or disease which under the conditions and 
limitations of such sections, would have entitled him to an 
invalid pension had he been disabled, his widow, or if there 
be no widow, or in case of her death, without payment to her 
of any part of the pension hereinafter mentioned, his child or 
children under sixteen years of age shall be entitled to receive 
the same pension as the husband or father would have been 
entitled to had he been totally disabled, to commence from the 
death of the husband or father, to continue to the widow during 
her widowhood and to his child or children until they severally 
attain the age of sixteen years and no longer ; and if the widow 
remarry, the child or children shall be entitled from the date 
of remarriage. 

U S. Revised Statutes, p. 923, § 4702. 



42 


§ 4703. The pensions of widows shall be increased from and 
after the twenty-fifth day of July, eighteen hundred and sixty- 
six at the rate of two dollars per month for each child under the 
age of sixteen years, of the husband on account of whose death 
the claim has been, or shall be, granted. And in every case in 
which the deceased husband has left, or shall leave, no widow, 
or where his widow has died or married again, or where she 
has been deprived of her pension under the provisions of the 
pension law, the pension granted to such child or children shall 
be increased to the same amount per month that would be 
allowed under the foregoing provisions to the widow if living 
and entitled to a pension : Provided , That the additional pen¬ 
sion herein granted to the widow on account of the child or 
children of the husband by a former wife shall be paid to her 
only for such period of her widowhood as she has been or 
shall be charged with the maintenance of such child or chil¬ 
dren ; for any period during which she has not been or she shall 
not be so charged it shall be granted and paid to the guardian of 
such child or children : Provided further , That a widow or 
guardian to whom increase of pension has been, or shall here¬ 
after be granted on account of minor children, shall not bo 
deprived thereof by reason of their being maintained in wholo 
or in part at the expense of a State or the public in any educa¬ 
tional institution, or in any institution organized for the care 
of soldiers’ orphans. 

U. S. Revised Statutes, p. 923, § 4703. 

A 


§ 4704. In the administration of the pension law r s children: 
born before the marriage of their parents, if acknowledged by 
the father before or after the marriage, shall be deemed legiti¬ 
mate. 

U. S. Revised Statutes, p. 923, § 4704. 


§ 4706. If any person has died, or shall hereafter die,, 
leaving a widow entitled to a pension by reason of his death, 
or a child or children under sixteen years of age by such 




43 


widow, and it shall be duly certified under seal by any court 
having probate jurisdiction that satisfactory evidence has been 
produced before such court, upon due notice to the widow, that 
she has abandoned the care of such child or children, or that 
she is an unsuitable person, by reason of immoral conduct, to 
have the custody of the same, on presentation of satisfactory 
evidence thereof to the Commissioner of Pensions, no pension 
shall be allowed to such widow until such child or children 
shall have attained the age of sixteen years, any provisions of 
law to the contrary notwithstanding; and the said child or 
children shall be pensioned in the same manner and from the 
same date as if no widow had survived such person ; and such 
pension shall be paid to the guardian of such child or children. 
But, if in any case payment of pension shall have been made to 
the widow, the pension to the child or children shall commence 
from the date to which her pension has been paid. 

U. S. Revised Statutes, p. 924. § 4706. 


§ 4725. All those surviving widows and minor children who 
have been allowed five years’ half-pay under the provisions of 
any general laws passed prior to the third day of June, eighteen 
hundred and fifty-eight, are granted a continuance of such half¬ 
pay, to commence from the date of the last payment under the 
respective acts of Congress granting the same, and on the 
terms and limitations provided in the following section. 

U. S. Revised Statutes, p. 928, § 4725. 


§ 4726. Such half-pay is granted to such widows during life, 
and where there is no widow, to the children while under the 
age of sixteen years ; but in case of the remarriage or death of 
any such widow the half-pay shall go to the children of tbe de¬ 
cedent on account of whose services it is claimed, while such 
children are under sixteen years of age, and no longer. 

U. S. Revised Statutes, p. 928, § 4726. 




44 


§ 4727. The half-pay of such widows and children shall be 
half the monthly pay of the officers, non-commissioned officers, 
musicians and privates of the infantry of the regular army, and 
no more and no greater sum shall be allowed to any such widow 
or minor children than the half-pay of a lieutenant-colonel. 
But the two preceding sections shall not be construed to apply 
to or embrace the case of any person receiving a pension for 
life on the third day of June, eighteen hundred and fifty-eight; 
and wherever half-pay has been granted by any special act of 
Congress and renewed or continued under the provisions of 
those sections, the same shall continue from the date above 
named : Provided , that pensions under this and the two prece¬ 
ding sections shall be varied in accordance with the provisions 
of section four thousand seven hundred and twelve of this title 
U. S. Revised Statutes, p. 928, § 472V. 


Physicians and Surgeons. 

§ 29. No person under the age of twenty-one years shall be 
entitled to practise physic or surgery in this State. 

1 Revised Statutes, 1113, § 29. 


Sec. 46. The trustees, for the time being, of every college 
incorporated pursuant to this act, shall have power to grant and 
confer the degree of doctor of medicine upon the recommend¬ 
ation of the board of professors of said college, and of at least 
three curators of the medical profession appointed by said 
trustees. 

But no person shall receive a diploma conferring such degree, 
unless he be of good moral character and of the age of twenty- 
one years, and shall have received a good English education, 
and shall have pursued the study of medicine and the sciences 
connected therewith for at least three years after the age of 
sixteen years, and have received instruction from some physi¬ 
cian and surgeon, fully qualified to practise his profession, un- 




45 


til tie is qualified to enter a medical college, and (except in 
cases hereafter provided) shall also after that age have attend¬ 
ed two complete courses of lectures delivered in some incorpo¬ 
rated medical college. 

1 Revised Statutes, 1117, § 46; Laws 1853, Ch. 184, § 11. 


Emigrants.—Duties of Commissioners of Emigration. 

Sec. 5. It shall be the duty of the commissioners of emigration 
hereafter named, to examine into the condition of passengers 
arriving at the port of New York in any ship or vessel, and for 
that purpose all or any of the said commissioners, or such other 
person or persons as they shall appoint, shall be authorized to 
go on board and through any such ship or vessel; and if on 
such examination there shall be found among such passengers 
any lunatic, idiot, deaf, dumb, blind, maimed or infirm persons, 
or persons above the age of sixty years, or widow with a child 
or children, or any woman without a husband and with a child 
or children, or any person unable to take care of himself or 
herself without becoming a public charge, or who from any at¬ 
tending circumstances are likely to become a public charge, or 
who from sickness or disease existing at the time of departure 
from the foreign port, are or are likely soon to become a public 
charge, they shall report the same to the said mayor particu¬ 
larly, and thereupon, and unless a bond as required in the 
second section of this act shall have been given, the said mayor 
or the person discharging the duties of his office, shall require 
in the indorsement to be made as aforesaid, or in any subse¬ 
quent indorsement or indorsements thereon, and in addition to 
the commutation money, that the owner or consignee of such 
ship or vessel, with one or more sufficient sureties, shall execute 
a joint and several bond to the people of the State in a penalty 
of five hundred dollars for every such passenger, conditioned 
to indemnify and save harmless the commissioners of emigra¬ 
tion, and each and every city, town or county within the State 
from any further cost or charge, which said commissioners, or 
any such city, town or county shall incur for the maintenance 



46 


or support of the person or persons named in such bond, or any 
of them, within five years from the date of such bond. The 
sureties to the said bond shall be required to justify before and 
to the satisfaction of the officer making such indorsement, and 
by their oath or affirmation shall satisfy such officer that they 
are respectively residents of the State of New York, and worth 
double the amount of the penalty of such bond over and above 
all debts, liabilities, and all property exempt from execution. 
The subsequent indorsement authorized in this section may be 
made at any time within thirty days after such examination, 
or of the landing of any such person or passenger. 

1 Revised Statutes, 1069, § 5. Laws 1847, Ch. 195, § 3 ; 
as amended 1851, Ch. 523, § 4. 


Sec. 6. The persons hereafter becoming chargeable upon any 
city, town or county within this State, for the payment of any 
expense of whose maintenance and support incurred by any 
such city, town or county, it is made the duty of the commis¬ 
sioners of emigration to provide by the “Act concerning pas¬ 
sengers in vessels coming to the city of New York,” passed 
May fifth, eighteen hundred and forty-seven, or any act 
amendatory thereof, shall be deemed and taken to include all 
persons otherwise within the description and provisions of such 
act or acts, who are or shall become the inmates of any alms¬ 
house, lunatic asylum, work-house, hospital, nursery, house of 
refuge, asylum for juvenile delinquents, house of correction, 
penitentiary, jail, bridewell or prison, under commitment, sen¬ 
tence or conviction, by an officer or officers, court or magistrate, 
under any laws of this State, as vagrants or disorderly 
persons. (*) 

1 Revised Statutes, 1070, § 6. Laws 1855, Ch. 426. 

(0 People vs . Perry, 13]Barb. R., 206. 


Property and Orphans op Emigrants. 

§14. Whenever any alien emigrant, whose personal property 
shall not exceed the value of twenty-five dollars, shall die on 




47 


the passage to the port of New York, or in the Marino Hospi¬ 
tal, or in any other establishment under the charge of the Com¬ 
missioners, and in all cases in which minor children of alien 
passengers shall become orphans by their parents or last sur¬ 
viving parent dying as aforesaid, the personal property which 
such alien emigrant or such parent or parents may have had 
with them shall be taken in charge by the Commissioners of 
Emigration, to be by them appropriated for the sole benefit of 
the next of kin of such alien emigrant or of said orphan chil¬ 
dren ; and said Commissioners shall give in their annual report 
to the Legislature a minute description of all cases in which 
property shall come into their possession by virtue of this sec¬ 
tion, and the disposition made of the same, unless it shall ap¬ 
pear that there are other persons entitled by will or otherwise 
to such property or distributive share thereof. Whenever it 
shall so appear the portion only to which the next of kin or 
said minor orphans would be legally entitled shall be trans¬ 
ferred to them or applied to their use, and the remainder shall 
be received, held, and distributed to the parties severally en¬ 
titled thereto, in the same manner and with the same authority 
as by law provided in respect to the public administrator of 
the city of New York, except that the said Commissioners are 
hereby authorized to distribute the same after a notice for 
creditors to appear and put in their claims within one w r eek 
from the publication of the said notice. The said notice shall 
be published once in one of the daily papers of the city of New 
York ( 1 ). 

1 Revised Statutes, 1071, § 14; Laws 1847, Ch. 483, § 5, as 
amended 1850, Ch. 339, § 3, and 1851, Ch. 523, § 1. 

(i) The Commissioners of Emigration are not responsible for the loss of baggage 
delivered by an emigrantjn a tug boat for transportation to Castle Garden. 

Murphy v. Commissioners, 28 1ST. Y. R., 134. 

“ “ 27 How. Pr. R., 41. 

Samuels v. McDonald, 11 Abb. Pr. R. N. S., 344. 

“ “ 42 How. Pr. R., 360. 

Distribution of the assets of deceased emigrants among their minor children. 

Matter of Commissioners, 1 Brad. R., 259. 


48 


Poor Children—Bastards. 

§ 27. The Commissioners of Emigration, or any one or more 
of them, shall have and exercise the same powers and authority 
in relation to poor children, and in relation to children born or 
likely to be bom bastards, (where the mothers of such children 
born, or likely to be born bastards, are chargeable to, or receiv¬ 
ing, or entitled to receive support or aid from said commission¬ 
ers), as are now by law conferred upon the Commissioners of 
Public Charities and Correction, or were heretofore conferred 
upon or possessed by the governors or commissioners of tho 
Almshouse of the city of New York, or the Commissioners of 
the Almshouse and Bridewell of the city of New York. 

1 Revised Statutes, 1074, § 27, Laws 1865, Ch. 382, § 1 . 

See Laws 1847, Ch, 483, § 3, and 1851, Ch. 523, § 2. 


Binding Out Children. 

Sec. 28. The said Commissioners of Emigration are, and each 
of them is, hereby vested with the same powers in regard to tho 
administering oaths of office to employees, and to the binding 
out of children with consent of parents or next of kin, actually 
chargeable upon them, and also in regard to persons in tho 
institution, or any of them, under the charge of said commis¬ 
sioners, for the prevention or punishment of an infraction or 
violation of the rules or orders and regulations of such com¬ 
missioners, or their officers, in regard to such institutions, as 
are possessed by the governors of the almshouse in the city of 
New York, or any of them, for the same purposes; and the 
general agent or superintendent of the said commissioners, duly 
appointed and authorized by them shall have the same power 
to administer oaths that the said commissioners, or any of them, 
may have by any law of this State. 

1 Revised Statutes, 1074, § 28, Laws 1869, Ch. 808, §2. 


Fare and Rights of Emigrants on Vessels and Railroads. 

Sec. 87. It shall not be lawful for any person or persons to 
demand or leceive, or bargain for the receipt of any greater or 





49 


higher price or rate of fare for the transportation and convey¬ 
ance of any such emigrant, second-class, steerage, or deck 
passengers, with their luggage, or either, from either or any of 
the points or places, in the first section of this act mentioned, 
to any other point or place, than the prices or rates contained 
in the statements which shall be delivered to the mayors of the 
cities of New York, Albany, Troy, and Buffalo, and said com¬ 
missioners respectively, as in the said first section provided for, 
or the price or rates which shall be established and fixed for 
the transportation and conveyance of such passengers and their 
luggage, or either, by proprietors or agents of the line or lines, 
or means of conveyance, by which such passenger or passengers 
and their luggage are to be transported or conveyed. In all 
gases each emigrant over four years of age conveyed by rail¬ 
roads, shall be furnished with a seat with permanent back to 
the same, and when conveyed by steamboat, propeller, or canal 
boat, shall be allowed at least two and one-half feet square in 
the clear on deck. Such deck shall be covered and made 
water-tight over head, and shall be properly protected at the 
outsides, either by curtains or partitions, and shall be properly 
ventilated. 

1 Revised Statutes, 1089, §87, Laws 1865, Ch. 472, § 3. 


OF PUBLIC INSTRUCTION. 

Common Schools. 

VACCINATION. 

§ 25. The trustees of the several common school districts in 
this State and the proper local boards of common school gov¬ 
ernment in the several cities of the State, are hereby directed 
and empowered, under the provisions hereinafter set forth, to 
exclude from the benefits of the common schools therein any 
child or any person who has not been vaccinated, and until 
such time when said child or person shall become vaccinated. 

1 Revised Statutes, 1104, § 25, Laws 1860, Ch. 438, § 1 . 


4 



50 


§ 26. The said trustees or local board may adopt a resolution 
to carry into effect the power conferred by the first section 
hereof; and whenever they shall do so they shall thereupon 
give at least ten days’ notice thereof by posting the same in 
two or more public or conspicuous places within the limits of 
their school government, and shall in said notice advertise due 
provision for the vaccination of any child or person of suitable 
age, who may desire to attend the common school, and whose 
parents or guardians are unable to procure vaccination for 
them, or for the children of suitable age of such parents, as by 
reason of poverty may be exempted from taxation in such 
school districts. 

1 Revised Statutes, 1104, § 26; Laws 1860, Chap. 438, § 2. 


§ 27. The said trustees or board may, in their or its discre¬ 
tion, appoint some competent physician and fix the compensa¬ 
tion for his services, the duty of which physician shall be to 
ascertain the number of children or persons in the school dis¬ 
trict or subdivision of city school government being of an age 
suitable to attend the common school, who have not been al¬ 
ready vaccinated, and also to furnish to the said trustees or 
said board a list of the names of all such children or persons. 
It shall also be the duty of said physician to provide himself 
with good and reliable vaccine virus wherewith to vaccinate 
such of the number of children or persons aforesaid as have 
not been vaccinated according as the trustees or board shall 
direct, and to thereupon give certificates of vaccination when 
required, which certificates shall be evidence thereof, for the 
purposes of a compliance with section first hereof. 

1 Revised Statutes, 1104, § 27; Laws 1860, Cli. 438, §3. 


§ 29. The trustees of the several school districts of this 
State are hereby required to include in their annual report the 
number in their several districts between the ages of five and 
twenty-one years who are vaccinated and the number unvac¬ 
cinated. 

1 Revised Statutes, 1105, § 29; Laws 1860, Cli. 438, § 5. 





51 


Vaccination in the City of New York. 

§ 1. For the purpose of more effectually preventing the 
•spread of small pox in the city of New York by a thorough 
and systematic vaccination of all unvaccinated persons resid¬ 
ing therein, the Board of Health of the said city is hereby 
empowered to organize a corps of vaccinators within and sub¬ 
ject to the control of the bureau of sanitary inspection; to 
appoint the necessary officers, keep suitable records, collect 
and preserve pure vaccine lymph or virus, and to add to the san¬ 
itary code as provided by section eighty-two, of chapter three 
hundred and thirty-five of the laws of eighteen hundred and 
seventy-three, entitled “ An act to reorganize the local govern¬ 
ment of the City of New York,” passed April thirteenth, eight¬ 
een hundred and seventy-three, such additional provisions as 
will most effectually secure the end in view. 

Laws 18Y4, Chap. 635, § 1. 


Pupils. 

§ 39. Common schools in the several school districts of this 
State shall be free to all persons over five and under twenty- 
one years of age residing in the district, as hereinafter provid¬ 
ed ; but non-residents of a district, if otherwise competent, may 
be admitted into the school of a district with the written con¬ 
sent of the trustees, or of a majority of them, upon such terms 
as the trustees shall prescribe ( 1 ). 

2 Revised Statutes, 68, § 39. 

(i) A school master has a right to chastise a scholar with moderation. 

Morris’ case, 1 City H. Rec., 55. 

Teachers must have good moral character. 

People vs. Masters, 21 Barb. R., 252. 

The school master is invested with a portion of the parental authority. This 
authority is ordinarily limited by the school premises, but in some cases the pupil 
may be punished for offenses committed out of school, which have a direct ten¬ 
dency to subvert the master’s authority. If the master uses his power as a cover 
for malice or to gratify his passions, he is liable to action. If the punishment 
is unreasonable, malice will be inferred. 

Hurd, on Ilab. Cor., 49-53 and notes. 



52 


Colored Children. 

§ 1. The school authorities of any city or incorporated village,, 
the schools of which are or shall be organized under title nine 
of this act or under special acts, may, when they shall deem it 
expedient, establish a separate school or separate schools for 
the instruction of children and youth of African descent, 
resident therein, and over five and under twenty-one years of 
age ; and such school or schools shall be supported in the 
same manner and to the same extent as the school or schools 
supported therein for white children, and they shall be subject 
to the same rules and regulations, and be furnished with facili¬ 
ties for instruction equal to those furnished to the white 
schools therein ( 1 ). 

2 Revised Statutes, 87, § 1. 

(') Dallas vs. Fosdick, 40 How. Pr. R., 249. 

The separation of white and colored children into different schools is not a vio¬ 
lation of the 14th amendment. 

People vs. Easton, 13 Abb. Pr. R. N. S., § 159. 


Care and Instruction of Idle and Truant Children. 

§ 1. If any child between the ages of five and fourteen years, 
having sufficient bodily health and mental capacity to attend the 
public schools, shall be found wandering in the streets or lanes 
of any city or incorporated village, idle and truant, without 
any lawful occupation, any justice of the peace, police magis¬ 
trate, or justices of the district courts in the city of New York, 
on complaint thereof by any citizen on oath, shall cause such 
child to be brought before him for examination, and shall also 
cause the parent, guardian or master of such child, if he or she 
have any, to be notified to attend such examination. And if, 
on such examination, the complaint shall be satisfactorily 
established, such justice shall require the parent, guardian, or 
master to enter into an engagement in writing, to the corporate 
authorities of the city or village, that he will restrain such child 
from so wandering about, will keep him or her on his own prem- 



53 


ises, or in some lawful occupation, and will cause such child 
to be sent to some school at least four months in each year, 
until he or she becomes fourteen years old. And such justice 
may, in his discretion, require security for the faithful per¬ 
formance of such engagement. If such child has no parent, 
guardian, or master, or none can be found, or if such parent, 
guardian, or master refuse or neglect, within a reasonable time 
to enter into such engagement, and to give such security, if re¬ 
quired, such justice shall, by warrant under his hand, commit 
such child to such place as shall be provided for his or her re¬ 
ception, as hereinafter directed. 

2 Revised Statutes 97, § 1 ; Laws, 1853, Ch. 185. 

§ 2. If such engagement be habitually or intentionally vio¬ 
lated, an action may be brought thereon, by the overseers of 
the poor or either of them, of such city or village, in the name, 
of the corporate authorities thereof; and on proof of such 
habitual or intentional violation, the plaintiff shall recover 
therein a penalty of not more than fifty dollars, with costs. 
And thereupon, the magistrate or court, before whom such re¬ 
covery shall be had, shall, by warrant, commit such child to 
the plaqe so provided for his or her reception, as aforesaid. 

2 Revised Statutes, 97, § 2; Laws 1853, Ch, 185. 


§ 3, The corporate authorities of every city and incorporated 
village shall provide some suitable place for the reception of 
every child’that may be so committed, and for the employment 
of such child in some useful occupation, and his or her instruc¬ 
tion in the elementary branches of an English education, and 
for his or her proper support and clothing. Every child so 
received shall be kept in such place until discharged by the 
overseers of the poor or the commissioners of the alms-house 
of such city or village, and may be bound out as an apprentice 
by them or either of them, with the consent of any justice of 
the peace, or any of the aldermen of the city, or any trustee of 
the incorporated village where he may be, in the same manner, 



54 


for the same periods, and subject to the same provisions, in all 
respects, as are contained in the first article and fourth title of 
the eighth chapter and second part of the Revised Statutes*, 
with respect to children whose parents have become chargeable 
on any city or town. 

2 Revised Statutes, 97, § 3 ; Laws 1853, Ch. 185. 


§ 4. The expenses of providing and maintaining such place 
for the reception, clothing, support and instruction of such 
children, shall be defrayed in the same manner as charges for 
the support of paupers chargeable upon such city or village ; 
and the corporate authorities of every city and village shall 
certify to the board of supervisors of the county, at their an¬ 
nual meetings, the amount necessary for said purposes, which 
amount the said supervisors shall cause to be levied and col¬ 
lected as part of the taxes for the support of the poor, charge¬ 
able to such city or village. 

2 Revised Statutes, 98, § 4 ; Laws 1853, Ch. 185. 


§ 5. It shall be the duty of all police officers and constables* 
who shall find any child in the condition described in the first 
section of this act, to make complaint to a justice of the peace* 
as provided in the said section. 

2 Revised Statutes, p. 98, § 5; Laws 1853, Ch. 185. 


§ 6. The fees of justices for services performed under this 
act shall be the same as allowed by law in cases of vagrancy* 
and shall be paid by the city or village in which they were 
rendered. 

2 Revised Statutes, p. 98, § 6; Laws 1853, Ch. 185. 


Compulsory Education. 

§ 1. All parents, and those who have the care of children, 
shall instruct them, or cause them to be instructed, in spelling. 






55 


reading, writing, English grammar, geography and arithmetic. 
And every parent, guardian, or other person having control 
and charge of any child between the ages of eight and fourteen 
years, shall cause such child to attend some public or private 
day school at least fourteen weeks in each year, eight weeks at 
least of which attendance shall be consecutive, or to be in¬ 
structed regularly at home, at least fourteen weeks in each 
year, in spelling, reading, writing, English grammar, geography, 
and arithmetic, unless the physical or mental condition of the 
child is such as to render such attendance or instruction inex¬ 
pedient or impracticable. 

2 Revised Statutes, 98, § 1 ; Laws 1874, Ch. 421, § 1 . 


§ 2. No child under the age of fourteen years shall be em¬ 
ployed by any person to labor in any business whatever during 
the school hours of any school day of the school term of the 
public school in the school district, or the city where such 
child is, unless such child shall have attended some public or 
private day school where instruction was given by a teacher 
qualified to instruct in spelling, reading, writing, geography, 
English grammar and arithmetic, or shall have been regularly 
instructed at home in said branches by some person qualified 
to instruct in the same, at least fourteen weeks of the fifty-two 
weeks next preceding any and every year in which such child 
shall be employed, and shall, at the time cf such employment, 
deliver to the employer a certificate in writing, signed by the 
teacher or a school trustee of the district or of a school, and 
countersigned by such officer as the board of education or pub¬ 
lic instruction, by whatever name it may be known in any city, 
incorporated village or town, shall designate, certifying to such 
attendance or instruction ; and any person who shall employ 
any child contrary to the provisions of this section shall, for 
each offense, forfeit and pay a penalty of fifty dollars to the 
treasurer or chief fiscal officer of the city, or supervisor of 
the town in which such offense shali occur; the said sum or 
penalty, when so paid, to be added to the public school 
money of the school district in which the offense occurred. 

2 Revised Statutes, p. 98, § 2, as amended, Laws of 1876, Ch. 



56 


§ 3. It sliall be the duty of the trustee or trustees of every 
school district, or public school or union school, or of officers 
appointed for that purpose by the board of education or public 
instruction, by whatever name it may be known, in every town 
and city, in the months of September and of February of each 
year, and at such other times as may be deemed necessary, to 
examine into the situation of the children employed in all man¬ 
ufacturing and other establishments in such school district 
where children are employed ; and in case any town or city is 
not divided into school districts, it shall, for the purposes of 
the examination provided for in this section, be divided by the 
school authorities thereof into districts, and the said trustees 
or other officers as aforesaid notified of their respective districts 
on or before the first day of January of each year; and the 
said trustee or trustees, or other officers as aforesaid, shall 
ascertain whether all the provisions of this act are duly ob¬ 
served, and report all violations thereof to the treasurer or 
■chief fiscal officer of said city, or supervisor of said town. On 
such examination the proprietor, superintendent or manager of 
said establishment shall, on demand, exhibit to said examining 
trustee, or other officers as aforesaid, a correct list of all child¬ 
ren between the ages of eight and fourteen years employed in 
said establishment, with the said certificates of attendance on 
school or of instruction. 

2 Revised Statutes, p. 98, § 2, as amended, Laws of 1876, Ch. 

372. 


§ 4. Every parent, guardian, or other person having control 
and charge of any child between the ages of eight and fourteen 
j'ears, who has been temporarily discharged from employment 
in any business, in order to be afforded an opportunity to re¬ 
ceive instruction or schooling, shall send such child to some 
public or private school, or shall cause such child to be regu¬ 
larly instructed as aforesaid at home for the period for which 
such child may have been so discharged, to the extent of at 
least fourteen weeks in all in each year, unless the physical or 
mental condition of the child is such as to render such an at¬ 
tendance or instruction inexpedient or impracticable. 

2 Revised Statutes, p. 99, § 4.' 



§ 5. The trustee or trustees of any school district or public 
school, or the president of any union school, or such officer as 
the board of education of said city, incorporated village or town 
may designate, is hereby authorized and empowered to see that 
sections one, two, three, four and five of this act are enforced, 
and to report in -writing all violations thereof to the treasurer 
or chief fiscal officer of his city, or to the supervisor of his 
to-wn ; any person who shall violate any provision of sections 
one, two, three and four of this act shall, on written notice of 
such violation from one of the school officers above named, 
forfeit, for the first offense, and pay to the treasurer or chief 
fiscal officer of the city, or to the supervisor of the town in 
which he resides, or such offense has occurred, the sum of one 
dollar, and, after such first offense, shall, for each succeeding 
offense in the same year, forfeit and pay to the treasurer of 
said city or supervisor of said town, the sum of five dollars for 
each and every week, not exceeding thirteen w r eeks in any one 
year, during which he, after written notice from said school 
officer, shall have failed to comply with any of said provisions ; 
the said penalties, when paid, to be added to the public school 
money of said school district in which the offense occurred. 

2 Revised Statutes, 99, £ 5, as amended, Laws 1876, Ch. 

372. 


§ 6. In every case arising under this Act, where the parent, 
guardian, or other person having the control of any child, be¬ 
tween the said ages of eight and fifteen years, is unable to 
provide such child lor said fourteen weeks, with the text-books 
required to be furnished, to enable such child to attend school 
for said period, and shall so state in writing to the said trustee, 
the said trustee shall provide said text-books for said fourteen 
weeks at the Public School, for the use of such child, and the 
expense of the same shall be paid by the treasurer of said 
•city or the supervisor of said town, on the certificate of the 
said trustee, specifying the items furnished for the use of such 
.child. 

2 Revised Statutes, 100, § 6; Laws 1874, Ch. 421. 

§ 7. In case any person, having the control of any child, be- 



58 


tween tlie ages of eight and fourteen years, is unable to induce 
said child to attend school for the said fourteen weeks, in each 
year, and shall so state in writing to said trustee, or said 
other officers appointed by the Board of Education or Public 
Instruction, by whatever name it may be known, the said child 
shall, from and after the date and delivery to said trustee, or 
other officer as aforesaid, of said statement in writing, be 
deemed and dealt with as an habitual truant, and said person 
shall be relieved of all penalties incurred for said year after 
said date, under sections one, four and five of this act, as to 
such child. 

2 Revised Statutes, 100, § 7; Laws 1874, eh. 421, as amended 
Laws 1876, ch. 372. 


§ 8. The Board of Education or Public Instruction, by what¬ 
ever name it may be called in such city and incorporated village, 
and the trustees of the school districts and union school in each 
town, by an affirmative vote of a majority of said trustees, at a 
meeting or meetings, to be called for this purpose, on ten days’ 
notice in Avriting, to each trustee ; said notice to be given by 
the town clerk, are for each of their respective cities and towns,, 
hereby authorized and empowered and directed, on or before 
the first day of January, eighteen hundred and seventy-seven,, 
to make all needful provisions, arrangements, rules and reg¬ 
ulations, concerning habitual truants and children between 
said ages of eight and fourteen years of age, who may be found 
wandering about the streets and public places of such city or 
town during school hours of the school day, of the term of the 
Public School of said city or town, having no lawful occupation 
or business, and growing up in ignorance ; and said provisions 
arrangements, rules and regulations shall be such as shall, in 
their judgment, be most conducive to the welfare of such chil- 
^ dren, and to the good order of such city or town ; and shall 
provide suitable places for the discipline and instruction and 
confinement, when necessary, of such children ; and may re¬ 
quire the aid of the police of cities, or incorporated villages,, 
and constables of towns, to enforce their said rules and regula¬ 
tions ; provided, however, that such provisions, arrangements* 
rules and regulations shall not go into effect, as laws for said 





59 


several cities and towns, until they shall have been approved, 
in writing, by a justice of the Supreme Court, for the judicial 
district in which said city, incorporated village or town is situ¬ 
ated ; and, when so approved, he shall file the same with the 
clerk of the said city, incorporated village or towm, who shall 
print the same, and furnish ten copies thereof to each trustee 
of each school district, or public or union school of said city, 
incorporated village or town. The said trustee shall keep one 
copy thereof posted in a conspicuous place, in or upon each 
school-house in his charge, during the school terms, each year. 
In like manner, the same in each city, incorporated village or 
town, may be amended or revised, within six months after the 
passage of this act, and thereafter annually, as the trustee or 
trustees of any school district or public school, or the president 
of any union school, or the board of education or public instruc¬ 
tion, or by whatever name it may be known, in any city, incor¬ 
porated village or town, may determine. 

2 Revised Statutes, 100, § 8; Laws 1874, cli. 421, as amended 
Laws 1876, ch. 372. 


§ 9. Justices of the peace, civil justices and police justices 
shall have jurisdiction within their respective towns and cities 
of all offenses and of all actions for penalties or fines de¬ 
scribed in this act, or that may be described in said provisions, 
arrangements, rules and regulations authorized by section eight 
of this act. All actions for fines and penalties under this act shall 
be brought in the name of the treasurer or chief fiscal officer 
of the city or supervisor of the town, to whom the same is 
payable, but shall be brought by, and under the direction of 
the said trustee or trustees, or said officer designated by the* 
Board of Education. 

2 Revised Statutes, 100, § 9; Laws 1874, ch. 421. 


§ 10. Two weeks’ attendance at a half-time or evening school,, 
shall, for all purposes of this act, be counted as one week at 
a day school. 

2 Revised Statutes, 101, § 10; Laws 1874, ch. 421. 



60 


§ 11. This act shall take effect on the first day of January, 

eighteen hundred and seventy-five. 

2 Revised Statutes, 10.1, §11; Laws 1874, ch. 421. 


Provisions, Arrangements, Rules and Regulations concern¬ 
ing Habitual Truancy in the City of New York, &c. 

Adopted by the Board of Education on the fifth day of July, 
1876, and approved by Hon. Noah Bavis, Justice of the Su¬ 
preme Court, pursuant to chapter 421 of the Laws of 1874, as 
•amended by chapter 372 of the Laws of 1876. Filed July 21st, 
1876. 

Resolved , That the Board of Education of the city of New r 
York do hereby, pursuant to the provisions of the Act of the Leg¬ 
islature of the State of New York, passed May 11,1874, entitled 
“ An act to secure to children the benefits of Elementary Edu¬ 
cation,” as amended May 20, 1876, make the provisions, ar¬ 
rangements,|rules and regulations concerning habitual truancy 
in the city of New York, and children there, between the ages 
■of eight and fourteen years, who maybe found wandering about 
the streets and public places of said city during school hours of 
the school days of the term of the public schools of said city, 
having no lawful occupation and growing up in ignorance, 
which are contained in the following eleven sections, viz.: 

§ 1. It shall be the duty of the principal of every 
school to keep a record, in a register especially provided for 
that purpose, of all children between the ages of eight and 
fourteen years attending such school; said register shall show 
the names, ages and residences of all such children, their daily 
attendance and the classes to which they respectively belong, 
with an accurate record of all cases reported to the agents of 
truancy, hereinafter mentioned, for a violation of the said 
Law of May 11, 1874, as amended May 20, 1876, and the dis¬ 
position made of each case by said agents of truancy, when 
reported by them to said principal; said register shall be cor¬ 
rected, from time to time, by adding thereto the names of all 
children between the ages of eight and fourteen years who may 





61 


be admitted to said school, or who, being alread}^ in attendance 
at said school, shall have arrived at the age of eight years, 
and also by erasing therefrom the names of all children be¬ 
tween the ages aforesaid who may have left said school, or who 
may have passed the age of fourteen years while in attendance 
at said school, and said register shall also be corrected as to 
the residence of children monthly. 

§2. Each Ward shall be divided into as many districts as 
there shall be school-houses in the Ward, and each district 
shall be so located that the school-house therein shall be in the 
centre thereof, or as nearly so as practicable. 

§ 3. The principal of every school shall transmit to the su¬ 
perintendent of truancy, hereinafter mentioned, at the close of 
each week, a list of children between the ages of eight and four¬ 
teen years whose names have been erased from said register, 
the date of such erasure and the cause thereof. 

§ 4. It shall be the special duty of the agent of truancy, or 
other officer or agent appointed by the Board of Education, for 
each of the eight School Districts into which the city of New 
York was divided by statute before these rules and regulations 
were made, to procure the attendance of the children within 
their respective districts, and elsewhere in the city, between 
the ages of eight and fourteen years, at some public or private 
school of the city of New York, and to carry out and enforce the 
said law of May 11, 1874, as amended May 20, 1876, and to do 
so by means of argument and persuasion, and by means other 
than force, if the same can be done ; that each of said agents 
of truancy shall devote his whole time to his said duties, and 
shall have such annual salary as shall from time to time be de¬ 
termined by the Board of Education ; and it shall also be the 
duty of such of the agents of truancy as may be designated 
for that purpose by the Board of Education to make, in the 
months of September and February of each year, and at such 
other times as may be deemed necessary, an examination into 
the situation of the children employed in all manufacturing 
and other establishments in any of the districts to which they 


62 


may be assigned, and to report all violations of said law of May 
11,1874, as amended May 20, 1876, to the said superintendent 
of truancy. 

§ 5. It shall be the duty of the principal of every school to 
report to the agent of truancy, for the district in which such 
school is situated, the names of all children between the ages 
of eight and fourteen years, and those only, whose non-attend¬ 
ance at school such principal has reason to believe is the result 
of a truant disposition. 

§ 6. The duties of the superintendent of truancy, or other 
officer for that purpose appointed by the Board of Education, 
shall be to see that said law, passed May 11,1874, as amended 
May 20, 1876, and its provisions are carried out and enforced 
throughout the whole city, and that the several agents of tru¬ 
ancy perform the duties imposed upon them, and that actions 
for fines and penalties under said act, as so amended, are pros¬ 
ecuted in the manner directed by said act, as so amended, and 
to perform all other duties enjoined on him by these regula¬ 
tions, or that may be required of him bv the Board of Educa¬ 
tion ; and said superintendent of truancy, is hereby designated 
and appointed to be the officer whose duty it shall be to do 
and perform all acts and things required to be done under 
section 2 of said act of May 11, 1874, as amended May 20, 
1876, by an officer designated for that purpose by the Board 
of Education, and to whom all statements in writing shall be 
made and delivered as provided by section 7 of said act, as so 
amended. 

The said superintendent of truancy is also designated and 
‘appointed as the officer whose duty it shall be to see that sec¬ 
tions 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5 of said act, as so amended, are carried out 
and enforced, and to report all violations of said law to the chief 
fiscal officer of the city of New York. 

§ 7. Said superintendent of truancy and said agents of tru¬ 
ancy shall meet once in each week, or oftener if the superin¬ 
tendent of truancy shall deem it needful, and transact such 
business in i elation to their affairs as may be necessary at 


03 


such meetings; said superintendent shall preside, and in his 
absence one of the agents of truancy shall be elected by said 
agents of truancy to act as chairman, and said agents of tru¬ 
ancy shall each at such meetings, and from time to time, re¬ 
port to said superintendent all matters and things done by him, 
or which ought to be done, or which may have come to his 
knowledge or otherwise relating to carrying out and enforcing 
the provisions of said Act of May 11, 1874, as amended May 
20, 1876, and said reports shall be kept by said superintendent 
for the use of the Board of Education, and be transmitted to it 
or its clerk whenever required ; and it shall be the duty of said 
superintendent to report to the Board of Education, at its first 
meeting in each month, the doings of himself and of said 
agents of truancy, during the preceding calendar month, and 
all matters which relate to the enforcement and execution of 
said law ; and said superintendent and agents shall hold office 
during the pleasure of the Board of Education, and they and 
all their acts shall be subject to the control and direction of the 
said Board. 

§ 8. The city of New York shall, for all the purposes of as¬ 
certaining and fixing the duties of the trustees of schools 
therein, be, and hereby is, divided into twenty-four districts, 
corresponding exactly with the several wards of said city, and 
the school trustees of each ward shall be the trustees men¬ 
tioned in said Act of May 11, 1874, as amended May 20, 1876, 
and it shall be their duty as such trustees, under said Act of 
May 11, 1874, as amended May 20, 1876, in their respective 
wards, to do all the acts and things by the sixth and eighth 
sections of said act, as so amended, required to be done by any 
trustee or trustees of schools, and all other lawful acts to carry 
out and enforce the provisions of said Act as so aniended. 

§ 9. It shall be the duty of said agents of truancy, in their 
respective districts, when they shall not be able by persuasion, 
argument, and other means than force, to procure the attend¬ 
ance at school of any child between the ages of eight and four¬ 
teen years, who, under the provisions of said Act, as so amended, 
ought to attend some public or private school, and who is under 


said Act, as so amended, liable to arrest, to make complaint, 
upon the written approval of the superintendent of truancy 
and of the President of the Board of Education, before a police 
justice of said city, and procure a warrant to be issued by said 
justice to a police officer of said city; and such child to be ar¬ 
rested and brought before said justice, and if found guilty of a 
violation of said Act, as so amended, and liable to commitment, 
to be commited to such reformatory school as may be estab¬ 
lished, for the detention and reformation of truants, by the 
Board of Education, to be restrained and detained by the said 
Board and sent to school there, or, in the discretion of said 
justice, to be committed to the Society for the Reformation of 
Juvenile Delinquents in the city of New York, on Randall’s 
Island, and the managers thereof, to be by them restrained and 
detained and sent to school there; and whilst so restrained and 
detained in either case, said child shall be subject, as to the 
time and manner of such restraint and education, to the con¬ 
trol of the Board of Education, so far as is consistent with law, 
and, in case of commitment to said society, so far as is con¬ 
sistent with the well-being of other children detained by said 
society. 


§ 10. That portion of Randall’s Island under the control of 
said Society for the Reformation of Juvenile Delinquents, 
and its managers, and such reformatory school as may. 
be established by the Board of Education, are hereby re¬ 
spectively set apart and provided by the Board of Educa¬ 
tion as suitable places for the discipline, instruction and 
confinement of children in said city, between the ages of 
eight and fourteen years, convicted of violating the provisions 
of said Act, as so amended ; and whenever any child between 
the ages of eight and fourteen shall be brought before any 
police justice, charged with a violation of said Act of May 11, 
1874, as amended May 20, 1876, and it shall have been ascer¬ 
tained and determined by such justice, upon the examination 
of such witnesses as may be produced before him by any party 
interested in the hearing, either on subpoena or otherwise, that 
said child is subject to arrest and commitment under the pro¬ 
visions of said Act, as so amended, and said child is convicted 


65 


of a violation thereof and found to be liable to arrest and im¬ 
prisonment thereunder, and shall be committed under the pro¬ 
visions of said Act, as so amended, by said Police Justice, he or 
she shall be detained and restrained and sent to school at one 
of the places hereinbefore designated, as in the discretion of 
said justice shall appear most proper and suitable for said child. 

§ 11. Each police officer in the city of New York is hereby 
required to aid and assist in all things, to the extent of his 
power and ability, in the enforcement and carrying out of all 
the'provisions of said Act of May 11, 1874, as amended May 20 
1876, and of the aforesaid rales and regulations. 


Common Schools in New York City. 

. § 47. All children between the ages of four and twenty-one, 
residing in the city and county (of New York) shall be entitled 
to attend any of the common schools therein ; and the parents, 
guardians or other persons having the custody or care of such 
children, shall not be liable to any tax, assessment or imposi¬ 
tion for the tuition of any children, other than is hereinbefore 
provided (*). 

2 Revised Statute*, p 129, § 47. 

(’) In Albany a citizen cannot select for his children such school as he pleases 
in disregard of the regulations of the Board of Public Instruction. 

People v. Easton, 13 Abb. Pr. R. N. S., 159. 

A school-master has a right to ch.’stise a scholar with moderation. 

Morris’ Case, 1 City II. Rec., 55. 


Certain By-Laws, General Kules and Regulations of the 
Board of Education of the City of New York, in 
force in 1876. 


Corporal Punishment. 

§ 44. No corporal punishment of any description shall here¬ 
after be inflicted in any of the common schools. 

1st Paragraph, § 44 of said By-laws. 


5 





66 


Pupils not to be Sent from School except in Stated Cases. 

4. Pupils shall not be sent from the school premises, upon j 
errands, during the school hours, except in cases of necessity 
or emergency, and with the consent of the pupil, and in such i! 
cases only by the authority of the principal or acting principal, 
who shall only be authorized to send a pupil of suitable age, 
and discretion, aud shall record in a suitable book the name 
of the pupil so sent with the date, the occasion and the dura¬ 
tion of absence. 

Subdivision 4, § 65 of said By-laws. 


List of Police Surgeons and Health Inspectors. 

§ 129. The clerk of the board shall furnish the principals of 
the public schools in the several wards, with a correct list of 
the names and residences of the police surgeons and health 
inspectors living nearest to such schools, respectively with in¬ 
structions that, in case of accident, said principal shall send 
for and ask the medical officers herein named for such aid as 
the necessities of the case may require ; and in case of the 
absence of such officers, the principal of the school where the 
accident happens, is empowered to employ the services of the 
first available medical practitioner, at the expense of this board. 
j 5 129 of said By-laws. 


Vaccination. 

§130. No pupil shall be allowed to attend any school, nor 
shall any teacher be employed in the same, unless such pupil 
or teacher has been vaccinated. 

1st Paragraph, § 130 of said By-laws. 





67 


Education of the Blind. 

§ 1. All blind persons of suitable age and capacity for 
instruction, wlio are legal residents of the State, shall be en¬ 
titled to the privileges of the New York State Institution for 
the Blind, without charge, and for such a period of time in 
each individual case as may be deemed expedient by the Board 
of Trustees of said institution ; provided, that whenever more 
persons apply for admission at one time than can be properly 
accommodated in the institution, the trustees shall so appor¬ 
tion the number received, that each county may be represented 
in the ratio of its blind population to the total blind population 
of the State ; and provided further, that the children of citi¬ 
zens who died in the United States service, or from wounds 
received therein during the late rebellion, shall take precedence 
over all others. 

2 Revised Statutes, 101, § 1 ; Laws, 1867, Ch, 744. 

See Laws, 1865, Oh. 587. 


§ 24. The managers of the New York institution for the blind 
are hereby authorized to receive, upon the appointment of the 
superintendent of public instruction, made for a term not ex¬ 
ceeding five years, all blind persons, residents of the counties 
of New York, and Kings, Queens and Suffolk, between eight 
and twenty-five years of age, who, in the judgment of the 
board of managers of said institution, shall be of suitable 
character and capacity for instruction, and shall have charge 
of their maintenance, education and support, and shall receive 
compensation therefor from the State in the same manner as 
is now provided by law. The term of such appointments may 
be extended, from time to time, bj* the superintendent of public 
instruction, on the recommendation of the board of managers 
of the said New l x ork institution for the blind, for such further 
period as they may deem advantageous in each individual 
case. 

2 Revised Statutes, 105, §24; Laws, 1870, Oh. 166, as 
amended Laws, 1871, Oh. 166. 


68 


Deaf and Du.mb Persons—State and other Institution® 

FOR THEM. 

§ 9. All deaf and dumb persons resident in this State, 
between the ages of twelve and twenty-five years, whose parent 
or parents, or, if an orphan, whose nearest friend shall have 
been resident in this State for three years immediately preced¬ 
ing the application, shall be eligible to appointment as State 
pupils, in one of the deaf and dumb institutions of this State, 
authorized by law to receive such pupils ; and all blind persons 
of suitable age and similar qualifications, shall be eligible to 
appointment to the institutions for the blind in the city of New 
York, or in the village of Batavia, as follows: All such as are 
residents of the counties of New York, Kings, Queens, Suffolk 
and Richmond, shall be sent to the institution for the blind in 
the city of New York ; those who reside in other counties of 
the State, shall be sent to the institution for the blind in the 
village of Batavia. All such appointments, with the exception 
of those to the institution for the blind in the village of Batavia, 
shall be made by the superintendent of public instruction upon 
application ; and in those cases in which, in his opinion, the 
parents or guardians of the applicants are able to bear a por¬ 
tion of the expense, he may impose conditions whereby some 
proportionate share of the expense of educating and clothing 
such pupils shall be paid by their parents, guardians or friends* 
in such manner and at such times as the superintendent shall 
designate, which conditions he may modify from time to time,, 
as he shall deem it expedient to do so. 

2 Revised Statutes, 43, §9 ; Laws 1864, Ch. 555. 


§ 10. Each pupil so received into either of the institutions 
aforesaid, shall be provided with board, lodging and tuition 
and the directors of the institution shall receive for each pupil 
so provided for, the sum of dollars per annum, in quar¬ 

terly payments, to be paid by the treasurer of the State, on 
the warrant of the comptroller, to the treasurer of said institu¬ 
tion, on his presenting a bill showing the actual time and 




69 


number of such pupils attending the institution, and which bill 
■shall be signed by the president and secretary of the institu¬ 
tion, and verified b} r their oaths. The regular term of instruc¬ 
tion for such pupils shall be five years ; but the superintend¬ 
ent of public instruction may, in his discretion, extend the 
term of any pupil for a period not exceeding three years. The 
pupils provided for in this and the preceding section of this 
title, shall be designated State pupils ; and all the existing pro¬ 
visions of law applicable to State pupils now in said institu¬ 
tions shall apply to pupils herein provided for. 

2 Revised Statutes, 43, § 10, note; Laws 1864, ch. 655, § 10. 


§ 11. The superintendent of public instruction may make 
such regulations and give such directions to parents and guard¬ 
ians, in relation to the admission of pupils into either of the 
above named institutions, as will prevent pupils entering the 
■same at irregular periods. 

2 Revised Statutes, 44, § 11; Laws 1864, ch. 555. 


Of the Instruction of Deaf Mutes. 

§ 1. Whenever a deaf mute child, under the age of twelve 
years, shall become a charge for its maintenance on any of the 
towns or counties of this State, or shall be liable to become such 
charge, it shall be the duty of the overseers of the poor of the 
town, or of the supervisors of such county, to place such child 
in the New York institution for the deaf and dumb, or in the 
institution for the improved instruction of deaf mutes, or in the 
Le Couteulx St. Mary’s institution for the improved instruc¬ 
tion of deaf mutes in the city of Buffalo, or in the Central New 
York institution for deaf mutes in the city of Borne, or in any 
institution of the State for the education of deaf mutes. 

2. Revised Statutes, 106, § 1; Laws 1863, ch. 325, as amend¬ 
ed by Laws 18*70, cli. 180; 1871, ch. 548, and 1875, ch. 
213. 




70 


§ 2. Any parent, guardian, or friend of any deaf-mute child,, 
within this State, over the age of six years, and under the age 
of twelve years, may make application to the overseers of the- 
poor of any town, or to any supervisor of the county where such 
child may be ; showing by satisfactory affidavit, or other proof, 
that the health, morals, or comfort of such child may be en¬ 
dangered, or not properly cared for ; and thereupon it shall be 
the duty of such overseer or supervisor to place such child in 
the New York institution for the deaf and dumb, or in the in¬ 
stitution for the improved instruction of deaf mutes, or in the 
Le Couteulx St. Mary’s institution for the improved instruc¬ 
tion of deaf mutes in the city of Buffalo, or in the Central New 
York institution for deaf mutes in the city of Rome, or in 
any institution in the State for the education of deaf mutes. 

2 Revised Statutes, 106, § 2; Laws 1863, ch. 325, as amended 
Laws 1874, ch. 253. 


§ 3. The children placed in said institutions, in pursuance of 
the foregoing sections, shall be maintained therein at the ex¬ 
pense of the county from whence they came, provided that such 
expense shall not exceed three hundred dollars each per year 
until they attain the age of twelve years, unless the directors of 
the institution to which a child has been sent, shall find that 
such child is not a proper subject to remain in said institution. 

2 Revised Statutes 106, § 3; Law r s 1863, ch. 325, as amended 
Law r s 1875, ch. 213. 


§ 4. The expenses for the board, tuition and clothing for such 
deaf-mute children, placed as aforesaid in said institutions, 
not exceeding the amount of three hundred dollars per year, 
above allowed, shall be raised and collected as are other ex¬ 
penses of the county from which such children shall be received ; 
and the bills therefor, properly authenticated by the principal 
or one of the officers of the institution, shall be paid to said insti¬ 
tution by the said county ; and its county treasurer or chamber- 
lain, as the case may be, is hereby directed to pay the same on 
presentation, so that the amount thereof may be borne by the 
proper county. 

2 Revised Statutes, 106, § 4, Laws 1875, ch. 213. 


71 


§ 5. The expenses for the board, tuition and clothing of the 
children under the age of twelve years, placed in the New 
York institution for the instruction of the deaf and dumb, pur¬ 
suant to the provision of the third and fourth sections of chap¬ 
ter three hundred and twenty-five, Laws of eighteen hundred 
and sixty-three, shall, until otherwise directed by law, be esti¬ 
mated at the rate of two hundred and thirty dollars per capita, 
instead of the amount therein provided. 

2 Revised Statutes 106, § 6; Laws 1867, Ch. 726, § 1. 


-§ 6. This act shall take effect on the first of September, 
eighteen hundred and sixty-seven. 

2 Revised Statutes, 106, § 6; Laws 1867, Ch. 726, § 1. 


§ 7. All provisions of law now existing, fixing the expense of 
the board, tuition and clothing of children, under twelve years, 
placed in the New York institution for the instruction of the 
deaf and dumb, shall apply to children who may, from time to 
time, be placed in the said “ Institution for the improved in¬ 
struction of deaf mutes,” in the same manner, and with the 
like effect, as if said last mentioned institution had also origi¬ 
nally been named in the acts fixing such compensation, and as 
if said acts had provided for the payment thereof to the insti¬ 
tution last mentioned, and the bills therefor, properly authen¬ 
ticated by the principal or one of the officers of the said last 
mentioned institution, shall be paid to said institution by the 
counties respectively from which such children were severally 
received, and the county treasurer or chamberlain, as the 
case may be, is hereby directed to pay the same on presenta¬ 
tion, so that the amount thereof may be borne by the proper 
county. 

2 Revised Statutes 107, § 7; Laws 1870, ch. 184, § 2. 


§ 8. [§ 1. The third section of the act entitled, “ An Act in 
relation to the New York institution for the instruction 





72 


of the deaf and dumb,” passed April eighteenth, eighteen hun¬ 
dred and thirty-eight, is hereby amended so as to read as fol¬ 
lows : § 2. The supervisors of any county in. this K State from 
which county pupils may be selected, whose parents or guar¬ 
dians are unable to furnish them with suitable clothing, are 
hereby authorized and required to raise in each year for this 
purpose, for each such pupil from said county, the sum of 
thirty dollars.] 

2 Revised Statutes 107, § 8; Laws 1864, ch. 386. 


Nautical Schools. 

§ 1. There shall be organized and established in the harbor 
of the city of New York, a nautical school for the purpose of 
educating boys in the learning and duty of seamanship and 
the science of navigation. 

2 Revised Statutes, 111, § 1; Laws 1861, ch. 253. 


§ 2. The said school shall be under the exclusive management 
and direction of five trustees, to hold their office for the term 
of five years, and three of whom shall be designated and ap¬ 
pointed by the Chamber of Commerce of the city of New York, 
and two of whom shall be appointed by the governor. t The 
term of office of the said trustees shall begin on the first day of 
May, eighteen hundred and sixty-one. 

2 Revised Statutes, 1 11, §2; Laws 1861, ch. 253. 


$ 3. The said trustees shall make such by-laws for the trans¬ 
action of their business as shall be, in their judgment, expedient 
and not inconsistent with the laws of this State, and shall de¬ 
termine the number, station, term of office and duties of the 
officers proper for the management of said school, and their 
compensation, and the manner and time of their appointment, 
and shall appoint the same. 

2 Revised Statutes, p. Ill, § 3; Laws 1861, ch. 253. 







73 


§ 4. The said trustees shall have power to receive such funds 
or property as shall be subscribed, or loaned, or bequeathed 
for the organization or maintenance of said nautical school, 
and execute all necessary agreements for the faithful applica¬ 
tion of the same, and to receive such boys as shall be sent to 
said school by their parents or guardians ; and all such boys, 
when so received into said nautical school, shall be subject to 
such regulations of conduct and discipline as, in the judgment 
of the trustees, are best adapted to their proper government; 
and the receiving and discharge of said boys shall be only in 
accordance with the by-laws and rules of said school as may 
be by said trustees adopted. They shall have control of the 
•school-ship of said institution, and shall exercise in relation 
thereto, and its care, supervision and management, all 
necessary powers and duties. They may also send any boy 
in education at such school on such,voyage as they shall deem 
advisable for his proficiency and welfare, and may declare such 
sending a discharge of said boy from such institution. The 
trustees shall also determine what shall be the age at which 
boys may be taken into said school, with the consent of his 
parents or guardian, and under what circumstances fees for 
board in said school-ship and education and tuition may be 
•charged and taken, and the rates of said board and education 
and tuition, and to extend to persons qualifying for stations 
beyond ordinary seamen the advantages of such school. 

2 Revised Statutes, p. Ill, § 4; Laws 1861, ch. 253. 


§ 5. Whenever the trustees shall receive, in valid subscrip¬ 
tions, the amount of thirty thousand dollars, they shall proceed 
to organize the said school, and they may determine in what 
manner and at what time such subscription shall be paid, and 
may appoint a treasurer and determine his specific duties, and 
provide for the safe keeping of the funds committed to his care. 

2 Revised Statutes, p. 112, § 5: Laws 1861, ch. 253. 



74 


§ 6. The said nautical school shall at all time (*) be open to 
the inspection and examination of public instruction, and a 
full report of its affairs shall be made to said superintendent 
at such time in the year as he shall designate. 

2 Revised Statutes, 112, § 6; Laws 1861, ch. 263. 

(') So in original. 


§ 7. The Board of Education for the city and county of New 
York, are authorized and directed to provide and maintain a 
nautical school in said city, for the education and training of 
pupils in the science and practice of navigation ; to furnish 
accommodation for said school, and make all needful rules and 
regulations therefor, and for the number and compensation of 
instructors and others employed therein; to prescribe the- 
government and discipline thereof, and the terms and con¬ 
ditions upon which pupils shall be received and instructed 
therein, and discharged therefrom, and provide in all tilings 
for the good management of said nautical school. And the 
said board shall have power to purchase the books, apparatus* 
stationery and other things necessary or expedient to en¬ 
able said school to be properly and successfully conducted* 
and may cause the said school or the pupils, or part of the 
pupils thereof to go on board vessels in the harbor of New 
York, and take cruises in or from said harbor for the purpose 
of obtaining a practical knowledge in navigation and of the 
duties of mariners. And the said board are hereby authorized 
to apply to the United States Government for the requisite use- 
of vessels and supplies for the purposes above mentioned. 

2 Revised Statutes, p. 112, § 7; Laws of 1873, ch. 288. 


§ 8. The said Board of Education shall appoint annually,, 
at least three of their number, who shall, subject to the control*, 
supervision and approbation of the board, constitute an ex¬ 
ecutive committee, for the care, government and management 
of such nautical school, under rules and regulations so pr,e- 



75 


scribed, and whose duty it shall be, among other things, to 
recommend the rules and regulations which they deem neces¬ 
sary and proper for such school. 

2 Revised Statutes, 111 , § 8 ; Laws 1873, cb. 288. 


§ 9. The Board of Supervisors of the county of New York, 
on the application of the said Board of Education, are hereby 
directed and empowered to cause to be raised by tax upon the 
estates, real and personal, in the city and county of New York, 
liable to taxation for the year eighteen hundred and seventy- 
three, the sum of fifty thousand dollars, to be disbursed and 
expended by the said Board of Education, for the establishment 
and organization of the said nautical school. After the estab¬ 
lishment and organization of the said school, the expenses 
thereof, and of carrying out the provisions of this act, shall be 
defrayed from the moneys raised by law for the support of 
common schools in the city and county of New York. 

2 Revised Statutes, 112, § 9; Laws 1873, ch. 288. 


§ 10. The Chamber of Commerce of New York is authorized 
to provide for and appoint a committee of its members to 
serve as the counsel of the nautical school, whose duty it shall 
be, as far as may be, to advise and co-operate with the Board 
of Education in the establishment and management of such 
school, and from time to time to visit and examine the same, 
and to communicate in respect thereof with the Board of Edu¬ 
cation, or such executive committee thereof, and to make re¬ 
ports to the Chamber of Commerce, which may transmit to the 
State Superintendent of Public Instruction such reports, or 
any thereof, or an abstract of the same, with such recommen¬ 
dations as may be deemed advisable. 

2 Revised Statutes, 112, § 10; Law.-; 1873, cb. 288. 




76 


Certain Colleges to Admit Free Pupils. 

§ 13. The Board of Trustees of every such college ( l ) shall, 
upon the payment of matriculation and demonstrator’s fees 
(which shall not exceed the sum of five dollars each), admit to 
its course of instruction without further charge any number of 
young persons of the State of New York (not exceeding ten at 
any one time), of good scholarship and moral character, who 
are in indigent circumstances ; the evidence of qualification 
shall Lea certificate from the judge of the county in which the 
applicant resides. 

2 Revised Statutes, 475, § 13; Laws 1853, ch. 184. 

(’) I. e., colleges incorporated under the general act relative to the incorporation 
of colleges and academies. Laws 1853, ch. 184. 


< 


PART III 


Internal Police. 


Of the Relief and Support of Indigent Persons. Certain; 
Relatives of a Pauper Bound to Support him. 

§ 1. The father, mother and children who are of sufficient 
ability of any poor person who is blind, old, lame, impotent or 
decrepit, so as to be unable by work to maintain himself shall, 
at their own charge relieve and maintain such poor person in 
such manner as shall be appproved by the overseers of the 
poor of the town where such poor person may be (*). 

2 Revised Statutes, p. 808, § 1. 

(i) It is the duty of a parent by common law to maintain his child until he is 
twenty-one years old. He cannot be discharged of this by showing that the 
child can support himself. The duty of supporting adult children unable to sup¬ 
port themselves is imposed by statute, as well as the duty of children to support 
their parents. 

Reeve on D R., p. 283. 

Converse v. McArthur. 1*7 Barb. R., 410. 

Norton v. Rhodes, 18 Barb. R., 100. 

Overseers v. Cox, 7 Law R., 235. 

Turner v. Hadden, 62 Barb. R., 480. 

Stone v. Burgess, 2 Lansing R., 439. 

Affirmed, 47 N. Y. R., 521. 

Furman v. Van Sbe, 56 N. Y. R., 435, 444. 

Bernardus v. Williamson, 1 Wheel. Cr., 234. 


§ 2. Upon any failure of any such relative so to relieve and 




78 


maintain any such poor person, it shall be the duty of the 
overseers of the poor of the town where such poor person may¬ 
be to apply to the court of sessions of the county where such 
relative may dwell for an order to compel such relief; of which 
application at least fourteen days’ notice in writing shall be 
given by serving the same personally, or by leaving the same 
at the last, place of dwelling of the individual to whom the same 
may be directed in case of his absence therefrom with some 
person of mature age ( x ). 

2 Revised Statutes, p. 808, § 2. 


(') A husband cannot be compelled to support his wife under this statute. 
Pomeroy v. Wells, 8 Paige, Chy. R., 406. 

Norton v. Rhodes, 18 Barb. R., 100. 


§ 3. The court to which the said application may be made 
shall proceed in a summary way to hear the allegations and 
proofs of the parties, and shall order such of the relatives 
aforesaid of such poor person as appear to be of sufficient 
ability to relieve and maintain such person, and shall therein 
specify the sum which will be sufficient for the support of such 
poor person, to be paid weekly. And the said court shall 
therein direct the relative or relatives who shall perform that 
duty in the following order : The father shall be first required 
to maintain such poor person ; if there be none, or he be not 
of sufficient ability, then the children of such poor person ; if 
there be none, or they be not of sufficient ability, then the 
mother. 

2 Revised Statutes, p. 808, £ 3. 


§ 4. if shall appear that any such relative is unable wholly 
to maintain such poor person, but is able to contribute towards 
his support, the court may, in its discretion, direct two or more 
relatives of different degrees to maintain such poor person, 
and shall prescribe the proportion which each shall contribute 
for that purpose; and if it shall appear that the relatives liable 




79 


as aforesaid are not of sufficient ability wholly to maintain 
such poor person, but are able to contribute something, the 
court shall direct the sum in proportion to their ability, which 
such relatives shall pay weekly for that purpose. 

2 Revised Statutes, p. 808, § 4. 


§ 5. Such order may specify the time during which the rela¬ 
tives aforesaid shall maintain such poor person, or during 
which any of the said sums so directed by the court shall be 
paid, or it may be indefinite and until the further order of the 
court. The court may from time to time vary such order 
whenever circumstances shall require it, on the application 
either of any relative affected thereby, or of any overseers 
of the poor of the town, upon fourteen days’ notice being 
given. 

2 Revised Statutes, p. 808, § 5. 


§ 6. The costs and expenses of such application shall be as¬ 
certained by the court and paid by the relatives against 
whom any order may be made ; and the payment thereof 
and obedience to the order of maintenance and to any order 
for the payment of money may be enforced by process of 
attachment. 

2 Revised Statutes, p. 809, § 6. 


§ 7. If any relative who shall have been required by such 
order to relieve or maintain any poor person shall neglect 
to do so in such manner as shall be approved by the over¬ 
seers of the poor of the town where such poor person may 
be, and shall neglect to pay to such overseers weekly the 
sum prescribed by the court for the support of such poor 
person, the said overseers may maintain an action as for 
moneys had and received against such relative, and shall re- 




80 


cover therein the sum so prescribed by the said court for 
every week the said order shall have been disobeyed, up to 
the time of such recovery, with cost of suit for the use of 
the poor. 

2 Revised Statutes, p. 809, § 7. 


§ 8. Whenever the father or mother, being a widow or living 
separate from her husband, shall abscond from their children, 
or a husband from his wife, leaving any of them chargeable or 
likely to become chargeable upon the public for their support, 
the overseers of the poor of the town where such wife or child¬ 
ren may be, may apply to any two justices of the peace of any 
county in which any estate, real or personal, of the said father 
mother or husband may be situated, for a warrant to seize the 
same. Upon due proof of the facts aforesaid, the said justices 
shall issue their warrant, authorizing the said overseers to 
take and seize the goods, chattels and effects, things in 
action, and the lands and tenements of the person so ab¬ 
sconding ( J ) 

2 Revised Statutes, p. 809, § 8. 

(’)Downing v. Rugar, 21 Wend. R., p. 178, 182. 

People v. Overseers, 23 Barb. R., 236. 

People v. Overseers, 44 Barb. R., 467. 

A police justice of the city of New York may issue a warrant to the commis¬ 
sioners of public charities to seize the property of an absconding father. 

The Commissioners’ attachment, 2 Abb. Pr. R. N. S., 83. 

A warrant against the father on the testimony of the wife is not void. 

Downing v. Rugar, 21 Wend. R., 178. 

Violent character of the wife no excuse from duty to support. 

Bell v. People, 6 Ilun. R., 302.- 


§ 9. By virtue of such warrant the said overseers may seize 
and take the said property wherever the same may be found 
in the same county, and shall be vested with all the right and 
title to the said property which the person so absconding had 
at the time of his or her departure. All sales and transfers of 



81 


any personal property left in the county from which such per¬ 
son absconded, made by him after the issuing of such warrant, 
whether in payment of an antecedent debt or for a new con¬ 
sideration, shall be absolutely void. The overseers shall im¬ 
mediately make an inventory of the property so seized by 
them, and return the same, together with their proceedings, to 
the next court of sessions of the county where such overseers 
reside, there to be filed. 

2 Revised Statutes, p. 809, § 9. 


§ 10. The said court, upon inquiring into the facts and cir¬ 
cumstances of the case, may confirm the said warrant and sei¬ 
zure, or may discharge the same ; and, if the same be, con¬ 
firmed, shall from time to time direct what part of the per¬ 
sonal property shall be sold, and how much of the proceeds of 
such sale, and of the rents and profits of the real estate, if any, 
shall be applied towards the maintenance of the children, or 
the wife of the person so absconding. 

2 Revised Statutes, ,p. 809, § 10. 


§11. If the party against whom such warrant shall issue 
return and support the wife or children so abandoned, or give 
security satisfactory to any two justices of the towm, to the 
overseers of the poor of the town, that the wife or children 
so abandoned shall not become, or thereafter be chargeable to 
the town or count} 1- , then such warrant shall be discharged by 
an order of such justices, and the property taken by virtue 
thereof shall be restored to such party. 

2 Revised Statutes, 809, §11. 


§ 12. The overseers shall sell at public vendue the property 
so ordered to be sold, and shall receive the rents and profits 
of the real estate of the persoii so absconding ; and in those 
towns which are required to support their own poor the over 

6 





82 


seers shall apply the same to the maintaining, bringing up, 
and providing for the wife, child, or children so left and aban¬ 
doned, and for that purpose shall draw on the county treasurer 
for the said proceeds, as hereinafter directed. They shall ac¬ 
count to the court of sessions for all moneys so received by 
them, and for the application thereof from time to time, and 
may be compelled by the said court to render such account at 
any time. 

2 Revised Statutes, p. 809, § 12. 


Superintendents of the Poor. 

§ 13. In those counties where all the poor are a charge upon 
the county, the superintendents of the poor shall be vested with 
the same powers, rights and authority, as are hereinbefore 
given to the overseers of the poor of any town, in respect to 
compelling relatives to maintain paupers, and in respect to 
the seizure of the property of any parent absconding and 
abandoning his or her family, and shall be entitled to the like 
actions and remedies in their names, and shall perform the 
duties hereinbefore required of overseers, and subject to the 
same obligations and control. 

2 Revised Statutes, p. 810, § 18. 


Who to be Maintained as Poor Persons. 

§ 14. Every poor person who is blind, lame, old, sick, impo¬ 
tent or decrepit, or in any other way disabled, or enfeebled, so 
as to be unable by his work to maintain himself, shall be main¬ 
tained by the county or town in which he may be, according to 
the following provisions (*): 

2 Revised Statutes, p. 810, § 14. 

(') Palmer v. Vandenbergh, 3 Wend. R., 193. 

See provisions for the aid of the poor by taxation in the counties of Erie, Kings 
and New York, and the definition of the term “ poor.” 

Laws 1875, Chs. 221 and 410. 




83 


§ 27. A majority of the persons so appointed ( i . e., the super¬ 
intendents of the poor for each county) shall be at all times 
•competent to transact business, and to execute any powers 
vested in the Board of Superintendents. They shall be 
allowed such sum for their actual attendance and services, as 
the Board of Supervisors of their county shall deem reason¬ 
able ( 1 ). 

2 Revised Statutes, p. 813, § 2'7. 

(’) People v. Clute, 50 N. Y. R., 451, 459. 

Johnson v. Dodd, 56 N. Y. R., 76. 


§ 31. There shall be a corporation by the name of the Su¬ 
perintendents of the Poor of the County for which they shall be 
appointed, and shall possess the usual powers of a corporation 
for public purposes ; they shall meet as often as the supervis¬ 
ors of the county shall direct, at the county poor-house, if there 
be one, or at the place of holding courts in their county, or at 
one of the places of holding courts, if there be more than one, 
and at such other times and places as they shall think expedient; 
they shall have a general superintendence and care of the 
county poor who may be in their respective counties ; and shall 
have power, and it shall be their duty : 

1. To provide suitable places for the keeping of such poor, 
when so directed by the supervisors of any county, where 
houses for that purpose have not been erected by the county; 
and for that .purpose to rent a tenement or tenements, and land 
not exceeding fifty acres, and to cause the poor of the county 
to be maintained in such places. 

2. To establish and ordain prudential rules, regulations and 
by-laws for the government and good order of such places so 
provided, and of the county poor-houses, and for the employ¬ 
ment, relief, management and government of the persons therein 
placed ; but such rules and regulations shall not be valid until 
sanctioned by a majority of the judges of the county courts of 
such county in writing. 

3. To employ suitable persons to be keepers of such houses 



84 


or places, and all necessary officers and servants, and to vest 
such powers in them for the government of such houses as shall 
be necessary, reserving to the paupers who may be placed un¬ 
der the care of such keepers, the right of appeal to the super¬ 
intendents. 

4. In the counties where a poor-house is erected, or other 
places provided for the poor, to purchase the furniture, imple¬ 
ments and materials that shall be necessary from time to time 
for the maintenance of the poor therein, and their employment 
in labor or manufactures, and to sell and dispose of the pro¬ 
ceeds of such labor as they shall deem expedient. 

5. To prescribe the rate of allowance to be made to any 
person for bringing paupers to the county poor-house or place 
provided for the poor, subject to such alterations as the Board 
of Supervisors may, by a general resolution, make. 

6. To authorize the keepers of such houses or places so 
provided, to certify the amount due to any person for bringing 
such paupers ; which amount shall be paid by the county 
treasurer on the production of such certificate, countersigned 
and allowed by any two superintendents. 

7. To decide any dispute that shall arise concerning the 
settlement of any poor person summarily upon a hearing of 
the parties; and for that purpose to issue subpoenas to compel 
the attendance of witnesses, and to administer oaths to them 
in the same manner, with the like power to enforce such pro¬ 
cess as is given to justices of the peace in any matter cogniz¬ 
able by them ; their decisions shall be filed in the office of the 
county clerk within thirty days after they are made; and shall 
be conclusive and final upon all parties interested. 

8. To direct the commencement of suits by any overseers 
of the poor who shall be entitled to prosecute for any penal¬ 
ties or upon any recognizances, bonds or securities taken for 
the indemnity of any town or of the county ; and in case of 
the neglect of any such overseer, to commence and conduct 
such suits without the authority of such overseers in their 
names. 

9. To draw from time to time on the county treasurer for 
all necessary expenses incurred in the discharge of their duties, 


85 


which drafts shall be paid by him out of the moneys placed in 
his hands for the support of the poor. 

10. To render to the Board of Supervisors of their county 
at their annual meeting an account of all moneys received and 
expended by them, or under their direction, and of all their 
proceedings. 

11. To pay over all moneys remaining in their hands with¬ 
in fifteen days after the expiration of their office to the county 
-treasurer or to their successors ( x ). 

2 Revised Statutes, p. 813, § 31. 

(') Paddock v. Symonds, 11 Barb. R., 117. 

City, (fee. v. Supervisors, 22 Barb. R., 248. 

People v. Commissioners, 27 Barb. R., 562. 

Alger v. Miller, 56, Barb. R., 227. 

Pomeroy v. Wells, 8 Paige, Chy. R., 405. 

If a keeper of a county poor-house employs its inmates for his own benefit 
<aipon a promise to pay for their services, he is personally liable to them. 

Bergin v Wemple, 30 N. Y. R., 319. 


§ 33. The superintendents of the county poor-houses which 
now are or hereafter may be established by law, are hereby 
required to cause all county and town paupers over the age of 
five and under the age of sixteen years, who now are or here¬ 
after may be in said poor-house, to be taught and educated in 
the same manner as children are now taught in the common 
schools of this State, at least one-fourth part of the time the 
said paupers shall remain in said poor-houses ( 2 ). 

2 Revised Statues, p. 814, § 33. 

( 2 ) An appeal lies from the decision of the Superintendents of the Poor to the 
-county court, and a new trial may be had thereon. 

Laws, 1872; Ch. 69. 

Majority of county superintendents may act without notice to others. 

Johnson v. Dodd, 56 N. Y. R., 76. 


§ 132. It shall be lawful for the superintendents of the poor, 
in counties in which there shall be no orphan asylum, and the 



86 


overseers of the poor of towns in such counties, to place the 
children chargeable to and supported at the expense of such 
counties or towns, in any incorporated orphan asylum in any 
county of the State, upon such terms as shall be agreed upon 
with the managers or trustees of said asylum, at the proper ex¬ 
pense of the counties or towns to which they are properly 
chargeable. 

2 Revised Statutes, p. 831, §132; Laws 1857, cli. 61. • 


§ 133. It shall be the duty of the managers of every orphan 
asylum or other institution authorized to receive and bind out 
orphan or destitute children, to provide and keep always open 
for the inspection of all desiring to examine it, a book, in which 
shall be registered the names, age and parentage, as near as 
the same can be ascertained, of all children committed to their 
care or received into such institution, in which book or register 
shall also be written the time such child left the institution,, 
and if bound out or otherwise placed out at service, or on trial, 
the name and occupation of the person with whom it is so< 
placed, and his or her place of residence. The managers shall 
have no power to bind out any person mentioned in the first 
section (i. e. § 132 above). 

2 Revised Statutes, p. 831, § 133; Laws 1857, ch. 61. 


§ 134. All the provisions of chapter one hundred and fifty- 
nine of the Laws of eighteen hundred and fifty-five, shall 
apply to the children provided for in this act. 

2 Revised Statutes, p. 831, §134; Laws 1857, ch. 61. 


Settlements, how gained. 

§48. Every person of full age, who, after this chapter shall 





87 


commence and take effect, shall be a resident and inhabitant 
of any town for one 3 T ear, and the members of his family who 
shall not have gained a separate settlement, shall be deemed 
settled in such town. A minor may be emancipated from his 
or her father, and may gain a settlement: 

1. If a female, by being married and living for one year with 
her husband, in which case her husband’s settlement shall 
determine that of the wife. 

2. If a male, by being married and residing for one year sep¬ 
arately from the family of his father. 

3. By being bound as an apprentice, and serving one year 
by virtue of such indentures. 

4. By being hired and actually serving for one year for 
wages to be paid to such minor. A woman of full age, by 
marrying, shall acquire the settlement of her husband, if he 
have any. And until a poor person shall have gained a settle¬ 
ment in his own right, his settlement shall be deemed that 
of his father or mother ; but no child born iffany place used and 
occupied as a residence for the poor of any town, city or 
county, shall gain any settlement merely by reason of the place 
of such birth ; nor shall anj^ child, born while the mother is a 
county pauper, gain any settlement by reason of the place of 
its birth (*). 

2 Revised Statutes, 817, §48. 

(!) Overseers v. Overseers, 14 Johns. R., 364. 

“ “ “ 2 Cow. fe., 537. 

“ “ “ 19 Johns. R., 56. 


Penalty for Bemoving Paupers. 

§ 77. Any person who shall send, carry, transport, remove or 
bring, or who shall cause to be sent, carried, transported, 
brought or removed, any poor or indigent person from any 
city, town or county, to any other city, town or county, without 
legal authority, and there leave such poor person, with intent to 



88 


make any sucli city, town or county to which the removal shall 
be made chargeable with the support of such pauper, or who 
shall entice any such poor person so to remove, with such in¬ 
tent, shall forfeit fifty dollars, to be recovered by and in the 
name of the overseers of the poor of the town to which such 
pauper shall be brought or removed, or in the name of the 
superintendents of the poor of the county into which the said 
poor person shall be removed ; and shall moreover be deemed 
guilty of a misdemeanor, and on conviction, shall be imprisoned 
not exceeding six months, or fined not exceeding one hundred 
dollars, or both, in the discretion of the court ( x ). 

2 Revised Statutes, p. 822, § 77. 

(') Coe v. Smith, 24 Wend. R., 341. 

Foster v. Cronkhite, 35 N. Y. R., 139. 

Superintendent v. Superintendent, 44 N. Y. R., 22. 


§ 83. Any person who shall bring or remove, or cause to be 
brought or removed, any poor or indigent person, from any 
place without this State, into any county or town within it, and 
there leave or attempt to leave such person, with intent to 
make such county or town chargeable with the support of such 
pauper, he shall forfeit and pay fifty dollars, to be recovered 
before any justice of the peace of the county in which such 
pauper shall be brought, to be sued for and recovered by and 
in the name of the superintendents of the county poor of said 
county, or by the overseers of the poor of the town into which 
such pauper shall be brought; and moreover, shall be obliged 
to convey such pauper out of the State or support him at his 
own expense ; and it shall be lawful for the justice before whom 
any person shall be convicted for a violation of this act, to require 
of such person satisfactory security that he will, within a rea¬ 
sonable time, to be named by the justice, transport such pau¬ 
per out of the State, or indemnify the town or county for all 
charges and expenses which may be incurred in the support of 
such pauper; and if such person shall refuse to give such secur¬ 
ity when so required, it shall be the duty of the justice to com- 



89 


mit him to the common jail of the county, for a term not ex¬ 
ceeding three months. All penalties recovered under this act 
shall be applied as directed in the sixty-fifth section of the law 
hereby amended (*). 

2 Revised Statutes, p. 824, § 83. 

0). Crouse v. Mabbett, 11 Johns. R., 167. 

Thomas v. Ross, 8 Wend. R., 672. 

Winfield v. Mapes, 4 Den. R., 571. 

Overseers v Overseers, 19 Johns. R., 56. 


Records of Poor Houses. 

§ 95. In addition to a general register of the inmates of the 
warious poor-houses and alms-houses of this State, there shall 
hereafter be kept in each such poor-house and alms-house a 
record as to the sex, age, birth place, birth of parents, education, 
habits, occupation, condition of ancestors and family relations, 
and the cause of dependence of each person at the time of ad¬ 
mission, with such other facts and particulars in relation thereto 
as may be required by the state board of charities, upon forms 
prescribed and furnished by said board. 

2 Revised Statutes, 825, § 95. Laws 1875, ch. 140. 


Beggars and Vagrants. 

§ 1. All idle persons who not having visible means to main¬ 
tain themselves live without employment; all persons wandering 
abroad and lodging in taverns, groceries, beer-houses, out¬ 
houses, market-places, sheds or barns^or in the open air, and 
not giving a good account of themselves; all persons wandering 
abroad and begging, or who go about from door to door, or 
place themselves in the streets, highways, passages or other 
public places, to beg or receive alms, shall be deemed 
■vagrants ( 2 ). 

2 Revised Statutes, p. 836, § 1. 

( 2 ) Proof that the prisoner was a common prostitute does not authorize her 
conviction as a vagrant. The statute must be strictly construed. Only prosti¬ 
tutes without employment are vagrants. 

Forbes’ Case, 11 Abb. Pr. R., 52. 

Gray’s “ “ “ 66. 

Exposition of the law of vagrants and disorderly persons, and their commit 
ament. 

Matter of Miller and eleven others, 1 Daly R., 662.' 




90 


§ 2. It shall be the duty of every constable or other peace 
officer, whenever required by any person, to carry such 
vagrant before a justice of the peace of the same town, or 
before the mayor, recorder, or any one of the aldermen of the 
city in which such vagrant shall be, for the purpose of exami¬ 
nation ( 1 ). 

2 Revised Statutes, p. 836, § 2. 

(i) The People vs. Harriet Charles, 1 Edm. Select Cases, 265. 


§ 3. If such justice or other officer be satisfied, by the con¬ 
fession of the offender or by competent testimony that such 
person is a vagrant within the description aforesaid, he shall 
make up and sign a record of conviction thereof, which shall 
be filed in the office of the clerk of the county, and shall by 
warrant, under his hand, commit such vagrant, if he be not a 
notorious offender and be a proper object for such relief, to the 
county poor-house, if there be one, or to the alms-house or 
poor-house of such town or city, for any time not exceeding; 
six months, there to be kept at hard labor; or if the offender 
be an improper person to be sent to the poor-house, then he 
shall be committed to the bridewell or house of correction of 
such city or county, if there be one; and if none, to the com¬ 
mon jail of such county, for a term not exceeding sixty days,, 
there to be kept, if the justice think proper so to direct, upon 
bread and water only, for such time as shall be directed, nob 
exceeding one-half the time for which he shall be com¬ 
mitted ( 2 ). 

2 Revised Statutes, p. 836, § 3. 

( 2 ) Form of warrant.—Bennac vs. People, 4 Barb. R., 31. 


Children Begging. 

§ 4. If any child shall be found begging for alms, or solicit¬ 
ing charity from door to door, or in any street, highway, or- 
public place of any city or town, any justice of the peace, on 
complaint and proof thereof, shall commit such child to the 
county poor-house, if there be one ; or to the alms-house, or 




91 


other place provided for the support of the poor, there to be 
detained, kept, employed and instructed in such useful 
labor as such child shall be able to perform, until discharged 
therefrom by the county superintendents of the poor, or 
bound out as an apprentice by them, or by the commissioners 
of the alms-house or the overseers of the poor. 

2 Revised Statutes, p. 837, § 4. 


Certain Children not to be Sent to Poor-Houses. 

§ 15. On and after January first, eighteen hundred and 
seventy-six, it shall not be lawful for any justice of the peace* 
police justice, or other magistrate, to commit any child over 
three and under sixteen years of age, as vagrant, truant or dis¬ 
orderly, to any county poor-house of this State, or for any 
county superintendent or overseer of the poor, or other officer,, 
to send any such child as a pauper to any such poor-house for 
support and care, unless such child be an unteacliable idiot, an 
epileptic, a paralytic, or be otherwise defective, diseased or 
deformed, so as to render it unfit for family care ; but such jus¬ 
tice of the peace, police justice, or other magistrate, and also 
such county superintendent or overseer of the poor, or other 
officer, shall commit or send such child or children not above 
exempted to some orphan asylum or other charitable or re¬ 
formatory institution, as now provided for by law. 

2 Revised Statutes, p. 839, § 15; Laws, 1876, ch. 173.. 


Removal of Certain Children from Poor-Houses. 

§ 16. From and after the passage of this act it shall 
be the duty of the county superintendents of the poor, 
Or other proper officers charged with the support and 
relief of indigent persons of the several counties of this 
State in which there are county poor-houses, to cause 
the removal of all children between the ages of three 
and sixteen years (not exempted by the first section of 



92 


this act) from their respective poor-houses, and also to cause 
the removal of those who may hereafter come under their care 
and control, or hereafter be born in such poor-houses, before 
they sTiall have arrived at the age of three years, and provide 
for their support and care in families, orphan asylums or other 
appropriate institutions, as now provided for by law ; and the 
boards of supervisors of the several counties are hereby re¬ 
quired to take such action in the matter as may be necessary 
to carry out the provisions of this act. 

2 Revised Statutes, p. 839, § 16 ; Laws 1875, cb. 1*73, as 
amended, Laws of 1876, ch. 266, § 2. 


Certain Prostitutes may be Sent to Certain 
Institutions. 

§ 17. Whenever any female between the ages of fourteen and 
twenty-one years, shall be brought by the police, or shall vol¬ 
untarily appear before a committing magistrate in the city of 
New York, charged with being a prostitute, or admitting her¬ 
self to be such, and professing a desire to reform, and it shall 
appear that such female has never been an inmate of the pen¬ 
itentiary, such magistrate shall make an order, that in lieu of 
being committed to the work-house or penitentiary, the said 
female shall be removed to and detained in one of the follow¬ 
ing institutions, viz. : the Protestant Episcopal House of 
Mercy, New York ; the Roman Catholic House of the Good 
Shepherd, foot of Eighty-ninth street; or the Magdalen Female 
Benevolent Asylum and Home of Fallen Women, provided 
that the magistrate shall designate in such order as the place 
of detention such one of the institutions above named as may 
be selected by the person so committed, unless notice shall 
have been received from such institution that there is not room 
for the reception of further inmates. Each of the institutions 
above named shall receive monthly, from the comptroller of the 
city and county of New York, the same amount for the sup¬ 
port of each person so committed as is now paid to the New 
York Juvenile Asylum for the support of children committed to 
its charge. 

2 Revised Statutes, 839, § 17 ; Laws. 1867, cb. 409, 



93 


Commissioners of Public Charities may Commit Certain 
Persons and Vagrants who Request it, to In¬ 
stitutions other than Penal. 

§ 18. It shall be lawful for the commissioners of the Depart¬ 
ment of Public Charities and Correction of the city of New 
York to commit to any of the institutions under their charge 
other than penal, for a period not exceeding six months, any 
person or persons committed to their charge by the police 
magistrates of the city of New York, and such vagrants as ask 
for commitment. 

2 Revised Statutes, p. 840, § 18; Laws 1871, ch. 607. 


§19.' The Commissioners of the Department of Public 
Charities and Correction of the city of New York shall have 
the same powers in respect to apprenticing minor children com¬ 
mitted to their care by the police magistrates of the city of 
New York as are now possessed by the managers of the House 
of ltefuge for Juvenile Delinquents in said city. 

2 Revised Statutes, p. 840, § 19 ; Laws 1871, ch. 607. 


Of Certain Female Drunkards, Vagrants, and Prostitutes. 

§ 20. Whenever any female between the ages of fourteen and 
thirty years shall be arrested and brought by the police, or who 
shall voluntarily appear before the county judge of Kings 
county, or the police justices of the city of Brooklyn, or any of 
the justices of the peace in the county of Kings, charged with 
being an habitual drunkard, vagrant, or prostitute, and proved 
to be such, or admitting herself to be such habitual drunkard, 
vagrant or prostitute, and professing a desire to reform, such 
county judge, -magistrate, justice of the peace, or police justice, 
may, in their discretion, make an order committing such female 
to the care, custody, and instruction of the managers of “ The 
House of the Good Shepherd” of the city of Brooklyn, now 
situated at numbers three hundred and twenty-seven and three 




94 


hundred and twenty-nine Henry street, in the said city of 
Brooklyn, to be detained by said managers not to exceed the 
term now prescribed by existing statutes in like cases made 
and provided ; but no female shall be committed to the said 
The House of the Good Shepherd,” under or in pursuance 
of the provisions of this act, who is a Protestant or a member 
of the Protestant faith. 

2 Revised Statutes, p. 840, § 20; Laws 1872, Ch. 846. 


§ 21. If any female, so committed as aforesaid, shall become 
turbulent, ill-conducted, disobedient, or ungovernable, the said 
managers are hereby authorized and empowered to eject and 
dismiss said female from said “ House of the Good Shepherd,” 
and may call in the aid of the members of the police force of 
the city of Brooklyn for that purpose, and bring the said female 
before the magistrate who committed her, who shall thereupon 
proceed to dispose of said female as directed by existing 
statutes. 

2 Revised Statutes, p. 840, § 21; Laws 1872, ch. 845. 


Lunatics. 

§ 12. If such lunatic is not possessed of sufficient property 
to maintain himself, it shall be the duty of the father, mother, 
or children of such lunatic, if of sufficient ability, to provide a 
suitable place for his conlinement, and to confine and maintain 
him in such manner as shall be agreeable to the provisions of 
this act. But in case his relatives are not of sufficient ability 
to maintain him, then the Superintendent of the Poor of the 
county shall, upon his order, send such pauper lunatic to any 
State asylum, or to such public or private asylum as may be 
approved by a standing order or resolution of the Supervisors, 
within ten days ( 1 ). 

2 Revised Statutes, p. 843, § 12. 

(') Bush v. Petibone, 6 Barb. R., 273. 

Alger v. Miller, 66 “ “ 227. 

People v. Supervisors, 7 Hill R., 171, 




t 


95 

Maintenance of Insane. 

§ 38. When the personal property and rents, profits and in¬ 
come of the real estate of any idiot, lunatic or person of un¬ 
sound mind shall be insufficient for his maintenance, or that of 
his family, or for the education of his children, it shall be the 
•duty of the committee of his estate to apply, by petition, to the 
•Supreme Court, or to the court having jurisdiction, for autho¬ 
rity to mortgage or sell the whole, or so much of the real estate 
as shall be necessary for that purpose; upon which the same 
reference and proceedings shall be had, and a like order shall 
be entered, as directed in section nine of title second of this 
act, and the court shall direct the manner in which the proceeds 
of such sale shall be secured, and the income or produce thereof 
.appropriated ( x ). 

2 Revised Statutes, p. 849, § 38. 

( ] ) Matter of Pettit, 2 Paige, Chy. R., 596. 


Care of Estates of Insane. 

§ 1. The Supreme Court shall have the care and custody of 
all idiots, lunatics, persons of unsound mind, and persons who 
shall be incapable of conducting their own affairs in conse¬ 
quence of habitual drunkeness, and of their real and personal 
estates, so that the same shall not be wasted or destroyed, and 
shall provide for their safe keeping and maintenance, and for 
the maintenance of their families and the education of their 
children, out of their personal estates and the rents and profits 
of their real estates respectively. And the county court shall 
have a similar jurisdiction in the care and custody of the per¬ 
son and estate of a lunatic or person of unsound mind or an 
habitual drunkard residenhwithin the county ( x ). 

2 Revised Statutes, p. 849, § 1. Act to revise and consolidate the Statutes 
relating to the Insane; Laws of 1874, ch. 446, title II, § 1. 

(i) Matter of Brown, 4 Duer R., 613. 

In the exercise of the power of the court the welfare of the lunatic, not the 
interest of his heirs, is the controlling consideration. 

Parsee Merchant, 11 Abb. P. R., N. S., 209. 

Matter of Colah, 3 Daly R., 529. 

Matter of Burr, 17 Barb. R., 9. 



96 


§ 17. When the personal property, and the rents, profits and 
income of the real estate of any such idiot, lunatic or other 
person above specified, shall be insufficient for his mainten¬ 
ance, or that of his family, or for the education of his children, 
a similar application may be made by the committee to the 
Supreme Court, or to the court having jurisdiction for author¬ 
ity to mortgage or sell the whole or so much of the real estate 
as shall be necessary for that purpose; upon which the same 
reference and proceedings shall be had, and a like order shall 

be entered, as hereinbefore directed. (*) 

3 Revised Statutes, p. 55, ’§ 17. See Laws 1874, ch. 446,. 
title II, § 9. 

(>) Matter of Pettit, 2 Paige, Chy. R., 596.. 


State Commissioner in Lunacy. 

§ 4. The said commissioner is hereby empowered to issue* 
compulsory process for the attendance of witnesses and the pro¬ 
duction of papers, to administer oaths and to examine'persons 
under oath, and to exercise the same powers as belong to ref¬ 
erees appointed by the Supreme Court, in all cases where, from 
evidence laid before him, there is reason to believe that any 
person is wrongfully deprived of his liberty, or is cruelly,.negli¬ 
gently or improperly treated in any asylum, institution of 
establishment, public or private, for the custody of the insane; 
or whenever there is inadequate provision made for their skills 
ful medical care, proper supervision and safe keeping; and if 
the same shall be proved to his satisfaction it shall be his duty 
to report the facts, together with his conclusion thereon, to a 
justice of the Supreme Court, who shall thereupon grant the 
necessary relief. 

2 Revised Statutes, p. 870, § 4; Laws 1875, ch. 574. 


Asylum for Idiots. 

§ 18. There shall be received and supported gratuitously, nr 
the ( 2 ) asylum, one hundred and twenty pupils, to be selected in 




97 


equal numbers, as near as may be, from each judicial district, 
from those whose parents or guardians are unable to provide 
for their support therein, to be designated as state pupils; and 
such additional number of idiots as can be conveniently accom¬ 
modated, may be received into the asylum by the trustees, on 
such terms as may be just. But no idiot shall be received into 
the asylum, without there shall have been first lodged with the 
superintendent thereof, a request to that effect, under the hand 
of the person by whose direction he is sent, stating the age and 
place of nativity, if known, of the idiot, his Christian and sur¬ 
name, the town or city, and county in which they severally re¬ 
side, the ability or otherwise of the idiot, his parents or guar¬ 
dians to provide for his support, in whole or in part, and if in 
part only, then what part; and the degree of relationship or 
other circumstances of connection between him and the person 
requesting his admission ; which statement shall be verified in 
writiug, by the oath of two disinterested persons residents of 
the same county with the idiot, acquainted with the facts and 
circumstances so stated, and certified to be credible by the 
county judge of the same county. And no idiot shall be re¬ 
ceived into said asylum unless the county judge, of the county 
liable for his support, shall certify that such idiot is an eligible 
and proper candidate for admission to said asylum as afore¬ 
said. 

2 Revised Statutes, p. 874, § 18; Laws 1862, cli. 220. 

( 2 ) I. <?., “The State Asylum for the Insane,” at Syracuse. 


§ 20. The superintendent is authorized to agree with the 
parent, guardian or committee of any idiot, or with any other 
person or persons, for the support, maintenance and clothing 
of any idiot, at the asylum, upon such terms and conditions as 
may be prescribed by the by-laws, or approved by the trustees. 
But every parent, guardian, committee or other person apply¬ 
ing for the admission into the asylum of any idiot who, or 
whose parents or guardians, are of sufficient ability to provide 
for his maintenance therein, shall, at the time of his admis¬ 
sion, deliver to the superintendent a bond, with one or more 

7 



98 


sureties, to be approved by the trustees in such a manner as 
they shall prescribe, in the penal sum of at least three hundred 
dollars, conditioned to pay to the treasurer, for the time being, 
of the asylum, by his name of office, all such sum or sums of 
money, at such time or times as shall be agreed upon as afore¬ 
said, and to remove such idiot from the asylum, free of expense, 
to the trustees, within twenty days after the service of the 
notice hereinafter provided. And if such idiot, or his parents 
or guardians, are of sufficient ability to pay only some portion 
less than the whole of the expenses of supporting and cloth¬ 
ing him at the asylum, said bond shall be conditioned only for 
his removal, as aforesaid; and the superintendent may take 
security by note, or other written contract or agreement, with 
or without sureties, as he may deem proper, for such portion 
of the said expenses as the idiot, his parents or guardians are 
able to pay ; subject, however, to the approval of the trustees, 
in the manner that shall be prescribed in the by-laws. Notice 
to remove any idiot from the asylum shall be in writing, signed 
by the superintendent; it shall be directed to the parents, 
guardians, committee, or other person or persons, upon whose 
request he was received at the place or places of residence 
mentioned in such request, • and may be served by depositing 
the same in the post-office at the city of Syracuse, and with 
the postage prepaid. If the idiot shall not be removed from 
the asylum, according to the conditions of said bond, within 
twenty days after the service of such notice in manner afore¬ 
said, he may be removed and disposed of by the superintend¬ 
ent, as directed in the last preceding section in relation to 
State pupils, and all the provisions of that section respecting 
the payment and recovery of the expenses of the removal and 
disposition of a State pupil shall be equally applicable to 
similar expenses arising under this section. 

2 Revised Statutes, 875, § 20; Laws 1862, cli. 220. 


Duties of Supervisors (*) to Provide Places of Deten¬ 
tion for Children and Women. 

§ 22. The boards of supervisors of each of the counties in 



99 


this State, except in the county of Kings and the city and 
county of New York, are hereby authorized and empowered to 
procure, by lease or purchase, a suitable place or places other 
than common jails, for the safe and proper keeping, and care 
and keep, of women and children charged with offenses and 
held for trial, and all persons detained as witnesses; such 
places to be termed houses of detention. 

1 Revised Statutes, 866, § 22, Laws 1876, Ch. 464. 

(^Thompson’s New York Supervisor’s Manual.’ 


§ 23. Whenever a house of detention shall be provided in any 
county according to the provisions of this act, any magistrate 
in such county authorized to commit persons charged with 
offenses and held for trial, shall direct on his order of commit¬ 
tal, in case the person charged is a woman or girl, or a boy 
under sixteen years of age, that such person be placed in the 
house of detention in his county, instead of the jail, and every 
person held as a witness in such county, shall be placed in such 
house of detention. 

1 Revised Statutes, 866, § 23; Laws 1875, ch. 464. 


§ 24. This act shall not apply to any person charged with 
crimes punishable by death or imprisonment in States prison 
for a term exceeding five years, or charged with a second 
offense. 

1 Revised Statutes, 867, § 24; Laws 1875, ch. 464. 


§ 25. The sheriff in each county shall have charge and control 
of such house or houses of detention, and shall be entitled to 
collect from the county the same fees and compensation for the 
care and board of said persons as are now allowed by law for 
the care and board of prisoners confined in the common jail. 

1 Revised Statutes, 867, § 25; Laws 1875, ch. 464. 





To Provide Employment for Disorderly Persons. 

§ 36. Further powers of local legislation and administration 
are hereby conferred on the boards of supervisors in the sev¬ 
eral counties of this State, except in cities whose boundaries 
are the same as those of the county, to make and administer,, 
within their respective counties, laws and regulations as fol¬ 
lows : 

Sub. 17. To provide for the employment for hire, or in the 
work of the county, of persons who shall be convicted of 
drunkenness or misdemeanor or as disorderly persons, or 
vagrants, or of any crime less than a felony, and who may be 
sentenced to confinement at hard labor in the county jail; and 
to contract with the authorities of any other county for the re¬ 
ception into the penitentiary of such county, and the custody 
and employment at hard labor therein, of any person w T ho may 
be convicted of any of the aforesaid offenses, and sentenced 
to confinement at hard labor for a term exceeding sixty days. 

1 Revised Statutes, 871, § 36, and p. 875, subd. 17; Lawa 
1875, ch. 482. 


Powers of Courts of Sessions. 

§ 7. [Part only.] Every Court of Sessions shall have power— 

4. To examine into the circumstances of persons committed 
to prison as parents of bastards, and to discharge them in the 
cases provided by law ; 

5. To hear and determine the complaints which shall be 
made to such court, under the law’s respecting masters, ap¬ 
prentices and servants ; 

8. To compel relatives of poor persons and committees of 
the estates of lunatics, to support such persons and lunatics, in 
the cases and in the manner prescribed by law; 

( J. To exercise the powders conferred by law in relation to the 
estates of persons absconding and leaving their families charge¬ 
able to the public (*). 

3 Revised Statutes, p. 235, § 7. 

(') Converse v. McArthur, 17 Barb. R., 410. 



101 


Powers of Surrogates. 

§ 1. [Part only.] Every surrogate wlio shall have duly qualified 
by taking the oath and executing the bond required by law, 
shall hold a court within the limits of the county for which 
be was appointed, and shall have power: 

7. To appoint guardians for minors, to remove them, to di¬ 
rect and control their conduct, and to settle their accounts, as 
prescribed by law. 

3 Revised Statutes, p. 325, § 1, subd. 7. 


Powers of the City Court of Brooklyn. 

§ 3 [Part Only].—The said three judges, or any of them, 
shall hold a court of civil jurisdiction, to be called the city 
court of Brooklyn, which shall be a court of record, and its 
jurisdiction shall extend to the following actions and proceed¬ 
ings, when the cause of action shall have arisen, or where the 
subject thereof shall be situated in the county of Kings : 

9. For the sale, mortgage or other disposition of real prop¬ 
erty of infants, habitual drunkards, lunatics, idiots and persons 
of unsound mind. 

10. To compel the specific performance, by infant heirs or 
other persons, of contracts respecting real property and chat¬ 
tels real. 

13. For the care and custody of idiots, lunatics, persons of 
unsound mind, and habitual drunkards, and of their real and 
personal estate. 

3 Revised Statutes, p. 279, §13, subd. 9,10. 13 ; Laws 1849, ch. 

125, as amended, 1870, ch. 470 ; 1871, ch. 282 ; 1872, ch. 688. 


Powers of the Recorder and Justices of the Peace of 
the City of Utica. 

§ 36.—No justice of the peace of the city of Utica shall 




102 


take any examination or recognizance, let to bail, issue 
subpoenas, or commit to prison in any criminal case; and the 
recorder of said city shall have exclusive jurisdiction of com¬ 
plaints and proceedings, under either of the acts entitled of 
“ beggars and vagrants,” of “ disorderly persons,” when the 
cause of the complaint or proceeding shall arise or be within 
the city of Utica ; and the said recorder shall also have exclu¬ 
sive jurisdiction of all cases, arising or being in the city of 
Utica, under the seventeenth section of an 'act entitled “ An 
Act to suppress intemperance, and to regulate the sale of in¬ 
toxicating liquors,” passed April sixteenth, eighteen hundred 
and fifty-seven. 

3 Revised Statutes, p. 249, § 36; Laws 1849, ch. 319, as 
amended, 1861, ch. 4. 


Powers of District and Justices’ Courts in New York and 
Brooklyn in Actions by Females for Wages. 

§ 96. In any action hereafter brought in the district court 
for any judicial district in the city of New York, or in any jus¬ 
tice’s court in the city of Brooklyn, by or in behalf of any 
female employee, or by the parent or guardian of any such female 
em pl°J ee > for the recovery of any sum of money for wages 
earned, or materials furnished, by such employee to any per¬ 
son or persons, there shall be allowed to the plaintiffs, in addi¬ 
tion to the costs now allowed by law, the sum of five dollars in 
addition to the amount recovered in said action ; and in case 
the amount recovered by the plaintiff shall exceed ten dol¬ 
lars, there shall be allowed the plaintiff, in addition to the 
costs now allowed by law, the sum of ten dollars. If any 
action brought by any female employee shall be settled, the 
plaintiff shall be entitled to the sums above mentioned, in ad¬ 
dition to the costs, the same as though such action had been 
tried , but this act shall not be construed so as to apply to any 
action brought by any person employed as a domestic or 
servant. 

3 Revised Statutes, p. 369, § 96; Laws 1871, ch. 936. 



103 


Powers of Court of Arbitration. 

§ 35. Nothing contained in this act is to be so construed as 
to give any jurisdiction to the said court of arbitration of the 
Chamber of Commerce of the State of New York, or to the 
official arbitrator or board of arbitration, except upon the vol¬ 
untary submission, waiver or election of the parties, or non- 
attendance pursuant to a requisition, as prescribed in this act; 
or to permit any infant, married woman or person incapable of 
managing his affairs by reason of lunacy, idiocy, unsoundness 
of mind, or habitual drunkenness, to be brought before the official 
arbitrator, or board of arbitration, as a party; or to apply to 
any matter pertaining to a fee or life-tenancy in real property. 

3 Revised Statutes, page 399, § 35; Laws 1875, ch. 495. 


Duties of Clerks of Courts of Oyer and Terminer. 

§ 33. From and after the passage of this act, it shall bo 
the duty of each of the clerks of the Courts of Oyer and Termi¬ 
ner and General and Special Sessions, to prepare, and, on or 
before the fifth day of each and. every month, to file with the 
chief of the bureau of elections a certified record, containing 
the name, residence and age of each and every person convicted 
in each of said courts respectively, of an offense punishable by 
death or imprisonment in a State prison, during the month im¬ 
mediately preceding, stating the alias or aliases of every such 
person, if known ; the offense with which charged ; the action 
of the court; and, if sentenced, the sentence imposed, and 
whether confined in a State prison or penitentiary. Any clerk 
of either of said courts who shall fail, neglect or refuse to com¬ 
ply with the provisions or requirements of this section shall, 
for each and every such offense, be deemed guilty of a misde¬ 
meanor. 

1 Revised Statutes, 477, § 33, Laws 1872, ch. 675. 


Place of Confinement for Minors. 

§ 36. Whenever any person under the age of twenty-one. 




104 


and above the age of sixteen years, shall be convicted of an 
offense punishable with imprisonment in the State prison, in 
either of the judicial districts of the State, having a peniten¬ 
tiary within said judicial district, the court before which such 
conviction shall be had, may, in its discretion, sentence the 
person so convicted to imprisonment in the penitentiary situ¬ 
ated in that judicial district. Every person so sentenced shall 
be received into the said penitentiary, and shall be kept and 
employed in the manner prescribed by law, and shall be sub¬ 
ject to the rules and discipline of said penitentiary. 

3 Revised Statutes, p. 993, § 36; Laws 1856, ch. 158. 


Children born in State Prison. 

§ 180. All children that have been or shall be born of 
female convicts in the female convict prison at Sing Sing, may¬ 
be, on order of the agent having at the time charge of the 
prison, be sent to the poor-house in the county of Westchester, 
to be there supported upon such terms as may be agreed upon 
between the agent and the superintendents of the poor of 
the said county, and all expenses incurred thereby shall 
be paid by the agent of the prison out of the funds 
thereof. 


S Revised Statutes, p. 1103 , § 180 . 



PART IV. 


Offences by or against Children. 


Manslaughter.—Killing Unborn Children. 

§ 8. The willful killing of an unborn quick child, by any in¬ 
jury to the mother of such child, which would be murder if ifc 
resulted in the death of such mother, shall be deemed man¬ 
slaughter in the first degree. . 

3 Revised Statutes, p. 932, § 8. 


Miscarriage—Abortion. 

§ 9. Any person who shall hereafter willfully administer to 
any woman with child, or prescribe for any such woman, or ad¬ 
vise or procure her to take any medicine, drug, substance or 
thing whatever, or shall use or employ, or advise or procure 
her to submit to the use or employment of any instrument, or 
other means whatever, with intent thereby to produce the mis¬ 
carriage of any such woman, unless the same shall have been 
necessary to preserve her life or that of such child, shall, in case 
the death of such child or of such woman be thereby produced, 
be deemed guilty of a felony, and upon conviction shall be pun- 




106 


ished by imprisonment in a State prison for a term not less than 
four years or more than twenty years ( x ). 

3 Revised Statutes, p. 932, § 9; Laws 1872, Ch. 181. 

(’) Lohman v. People, 1 N. Y. R... 379. 

Affirming People v. Lohman, 2 Barb. R., 216. 

Mongeonv. People, 65 N. Y. R., 613. 

People v. Davis, 66 N. Y. R., 95. 

Crichton v. People, 1 Abb. Ct. App. D., 467. 

Crichton v. People, 6 Park. Cr. R., 363. 

Hunt v. People, 3 Park. Cr. R., 569. 

People v. Stockham, 1 Park. Cr. R., 424. 

People v. Jackson, 3 Hill R., 92. 

Evans v. the People, 49 N. Y. R., 86. 

Dunn v. People, 29 N. Y. R., 523. 

Elkin v. People, 28 N. Y. R., 177. 


§ 10. Any woman pregnant with child who shall take any 
medicine, drug, substance or thing whatever, or shall use or 
employ, or suffer any other person to use or employ, or submit 
to the use or employment of any instrument, or other means 
whatever, with the intent thereby to produce the miscarriage 
of the child of which she is so pregnant, unless the same shall 
have been necessary to preserve her life or that of such child, 
shall, in case the death of such child shall be thereby pro¬ 
duced, be deemed guilty of a felony, and, upon conviction, 
shall be punished by imprisonment in the State prison for a 
term not less than four years or more than ten years. 

3 Revised Statutes, p. 933, § 10; Laws 1872, ch. 181.' 


§ 11. Every person who shall administer to any pregnant 
woman, or prescribe for any such woman, or advise or procure 
any such woman to take, any medicine, drug, substance or 
thing whatever, or manufacture, advertise, or sell any such 
medicine, drug, substance or thing whatever, or shall use or 
employ any instrument, or other means whatever, with intent 
thereby to procure the miscarriage of any such woman, shall,,. 




107 


upon conviction, be punished by imprisonment in a county 
jail, or in a State prison, not less than one nor more than three 
years, in the discretion of the court (*). 

3 Revised Statutes, p. 933, § 11; Laws 1872, ch. 181. 
(^Crichton v. People, 1 Abb. Ct. App. D., 467. 


§ 12. Whosoever shall unlawfully supply or procure any 
advice, instruction, medicine, drug, substance or thing what¬ 
ever, knowing that the same is intended to be unlawfully used 
or employed, with intent to procure the miscarriage of any 
woman, whether she be or be not pregnant, shall be deemed 
guilty of a misdemeanor, and shall, upon conviction, be pun¬ 
ished by imprisonment in the county jail, not less than three 
months nor more than one year, or by a fine, not exceeding 
one thousand dollars, or by both such fine and imprison¬ 
ment. 

3 Revised Statutes, p. 933, § 12.; Laws 1872, ch. 181. 


§ 14. In all prosecutions under and in pursuance of this act, 
the dying declarations of the woman whose death is produced 
by any of the means hereinbefore set forth, shall be admitted 
in evidence subject to the same restrictions as in cases of homi¬ 
cide. 

3 Revised Statutes, p. 933, § 14. ' Laws 1875, ch. 352. 


Rape—Abduction, Marriage of Children without Consent 
of Parents. 

§ 27. Every person who shall be convicted of rape, either— 

1. By carnally and unlawfully knowing any female child 
•under the age of ten years ; or, 

2. By forcibly ravishing any woman of the age of ten years 
or upwards; 





108 


Shall be punished by imprisonment in a State prison not less 
than ten years (*). 

3 Revised Statutes, page 935, § 27. 

0) To warrant a conviction there must be the utmost reluctance and resistance. 

People vs. Morrison. 1 Park. Cr., 625. 

People vs. Abbot, 19 Wend. R., 192. 

Having a connection with an intoxicated woman is not a rape, but a crime. 

People v. Quin 50 Barb. R., 128. 

Walter v. People. 50 “ “ 144. 

When a person decoys a child into a building for the purpose of ravishing her, 
and is detected near her in an indecent state, held that though there was no evi. 
clence of his having touched her, he was properly convicted of an assault to com¬ 
mit rape. 

Hayes v. People, 1 Hill R., 351. 

People v. Bates, 2 Park. Cr. 27. 

Crossman v. Bradley, 53 Barb. R., 125. 

Ford v. Jones, 62 Barb. R., 484. 

Conkey v. People, 1 Abb. Ct. App., Dec. 418. 

Gougleman v. People, 3 Park. Cr. R., 15. 


§ 28. Every person who shall have carnal knowledge of any 
woman above the age of ten years, without her consent, by ad¬ 
ministering to her any substance or liquid, which shall pro¬ 
duce such stupor or such imbecility of mind, or weakness of 
body, as to prevent effectual resistance, shall, upon conviction, 
be punished by imprisonment in a State prison, not exceeding 
five years. 

3 Revised Statutes, p. 935, § 28. 


§ 32. Any person who shall inveigle, entice, or take away 
any unmarried female of previous chaste character, under the 
age of twenty-five years from her father’s house, or wherever 
else she may be, for the purpose of prostitution at a house of 
ill-fame, assignation, or elsewhere, and every person who shall 
aid or assist in such abduction for such purpose, shall be guilty 
of a misdemeanor, and shall, upon conviction thereof, bo pun¬ 
ished by imprisonment in a State prison not exceeding two 




109 


years, or by imprisonment in a county jail not exceeding ono 
year : Provided that no conviction shall be had under the pro¬ 
visions of this act on the testimony of the female so inveigled 
or enticed away, unsupported by other evidence, nor unless an 
indictment shall be found within two years after the com¬ 
mission of the offence ( 1 ). 

3 Revised Statutes, p. 936, § 32 ; Laws 1848, ch. 105. 

(>). An abduction is not made out unless the taking away is for indiscriminate 
meretricious commerce. An abduction to keep as a private mistress is not within 
the statute. 

Carpenter v. People, 8 Barb. R., 603. 

An attempt to seduce is not a taking within the meaning of this section. 

People v. Parshal, 6 Park. Cr., 129. 


§ 5349. Every master, officer, seaman or other person em¬ 
ployed on board of any American vessel, who, during the 
voyage, under promise of marriage, or by threats, or the exer¬ 
cise of authority or solicitation or the making of gifts or 
’presents, seduces and has illicit connection with any female 
passenger, shall be punished by imprisonment not more than 
twelve months, or by a fine of not more than one thousand 
dollars; but subsequent intermarriage of the parties may be 
pleaded in bar of conviction. 

U. S. Revised Statutes, page 1044, § 6349. 


§ 5350. When any person is convicted under the provisions 
of the preceding section, the court may, in its discretion, by 
an order entered on its minutes, direct the amount of the fine, 
when imposed and collected, to be paid for the use of the 
female seduced, or her child, if she have any. 

U. S. Revised Statutes, 1044, § 5350. 


Malicious Injuries by Officers of Vessels. 

§ 5347. Every master or other officer of an American vessel 





110 


on tlie high seas or on any waters within the admiralty and 
maritime jurisdiction of the United States, who, from malice, 
hatred or revenge, and without justifiable cause, beats, wounds 
or imprisons any of the crew of such vessel, or withholds from 
them suitable food and nourishment, or inflicts upon them any 
cruel [and unusual punishment, shall be punished by a fine of 
not more than one thousand dollars, or by imprisonment not 
more than five years, or by both. 

U. S. Revised Statutes, 1043, § 6347. 


Kidnapping. 

§ 35. Every person who shall, without lawful authority, forci¬ 
bly seize and confine any other, or shall inveigle or kidnap 
any other, with intent, either 

1. To cause such other person to be secretly confined or 
imprisoned in this State against his will; or 

2. To cause such other person to be sent out of this State 
against his will; or 

3. To cause such person to be sold as a slave, or in any way 
held to service against his will, 

Shall, upon conviction, be punished by imprisonment in a 
State prison, not exceeding ten years (*). 

3 Revised Statutes, 936, § 35. 

0) People v. Ruloff, 3 Park Cr., 126. 

People v. Merrill, 2 Park Cr., 690. 

People v. Merrill, 14 N. Y., 75. 

Hadden v. People, 25 N. Y., 373. 

Arrest, in this State, by a sheriff of another State, of a criminal under a war¬ 
rant issued by the courts of such other State, and confinement of criminal in auch 
other State, is kidnapping under above statute. 

Mandeville v. Guernsey, 51 Barb., 99. 


Bringing into the United States, or Holding or Selling 
Persons as Slaves. 

§ 5377. Every person who brings within the jurisdiction of 
the United States in any manner whatsoever, any negro, mu¬ 
latto, or person of color from any foreign kingdom or country, 




Ill 


or from sea, or holds, sells, or otherwise disposes of any negro, 
mulatto, or person of color, so brought in as a slave, to be held 
to service or labor, shall be fined not more than ten thousand 
dollars, nor less than one thousand, one half to the use of the 
United States, and the other half to the use of the party who 
prosecutes the indictment to effect; and, moreover, shall suffer 
imprisonment at hard labor not more than seven years, nor less 
than three years. 

U. S. Revised Statutes, p. 1048, § 5377. 


Kidnapping—Slavery. 

§ 5525. Every person who kidnaps or carries away any other 
person with the intent that such other person be sold into in¬ 
voluntary servitude, or held as a slave; or who entices, per¬ 
suades or induces any other person to go on board any vessel, 
or to any other place with the intent that he may be made or 
held as a slave, or sent out of the country, to be so made or 
held, or who in any way knowingly aids in causing any other 
person to be held, sold, or carried away to be held or sold as 
a slave, shall be punished by a fine of not less than five hun¬ 
dred, nor more than five thousand dollars, or by imprisonment 
not more than five years, or by both. 

U. S. Revised Statutes, p. 1077, § 5525. 


An Act to Protect Persons of Foreign Birth against 
Forcible Constraint, or Involuntary Servitude. 

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Bepresentatives 
of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That 
whoever shall knowingly and willfully bring into the United 
States, or the Territories thereof, any person inveigled or forcibly 
kidnapped in any other country, with intent to hold such per¬ 
son so inveigled or kidnapped in confinement, or to any invol¬ 
untary service, and whoever shall knowingly sell, or cause to 
be sold, into any condition of involuntary servitude, any other 
person for any term whatever, and every person who shall 




112 


knowingly and wilfully bold to involuntary service any person 
bo sold and bought, shall be deemed guilty of a felony, and on 
conviction thereof, be imprisoned for a term not exceeding five 
years, and pay a fine not exceeding five thousand dollars. 

U. S. Laws, 43d Cong., ch. 464, § 1. 


§ 2. That every person Avho shall be accessory to any of the 
felonies herein declared, either before or after the fact, shall 
be deemed guilty of a felony, and on conviction thereof, be im¬ 
prisoned for a term not exceeding five years, anjd pay a fine 
not exceeding one thousand dollars. 

U. S. Laws, 43d Cong., ch. 464, § 2 ; approved, June 23, 1874. 


Involuntary Service of Orientals. 

§ 2. That if any citizen of the United States or other person 
amenable to the laws of the United States, shall take, or 
cause to be taken or transported to or from the United States, 
any subject of China, Japan, or any oriental country without 
their free and voluntary consent, for the purpose of holding 
them to a term of service, such citizen or other person shall be 
liable to be indicted therefor; and on conviction of such offence, 
shall be punished by a fine not exceeding two thousand dollars, 
and be imprisoned not exceeding one year ; and all contracts 
and agreements for a term of service of such persons in the 
United States, whether made in advance, or in pursuance of 
such illegal importation, and whether such importation shall 
have been in American or other vessels, are hereby declared 
void. 

U. S. Laws, 1874-1875, ch. 141, § 2. 

Taking Females Under, Fourteen for Marriage, Prostitu¬ 
tion, &g. 

§33. Every person who shall take away any female under 
the age of fourteen years from her father, mother, guardian, or 
other person having the legal charge of her person, without their 



113 


consent, either for the purpose of prostitution, concubinage, or 
marriage, shall, upon conviction thereof, be punished by im¬ 
prisonment in a State prison not exceeding three years, or by 
imprisonment in a county jail not exceeding one year, or by a 
fine not exceeding one thousand dollars, or by both such fine 
and imprisonment ( r ). 

3 Revised Statutes, p. 936, § 33. 

(') People v. Parshall, 6 Park., Or. R., 132. 


* 

Decoying Children. 

§. 44. Every person who shall maliciously, forcibly, or fraud¬ 
ulently, lead, take, or carry away, or decoy or entice away, any 
child under the age of twelve years, with intent to detain and 
conceal such child from its parent, guardian, or other person 
having the lawful charge of such child, shall, upon conviction, 
be punished by imprisonment in a State prison not exceeding 
ten years, or by imprisonment in a county jail not exceeding 
one year, or by fine not exceeding five hundred dollars, or by 
both such fine and imprisonment ( 2 ). 

3 Revised Statutes, p. 937, § 44. 

p) Hadden v. People, 26 N. Y. R., 373. 

Thompson’s Case, 2 City H. R., 120. 

People v. Merrell, 2 Park., Cr. R., 590. 

“ “ 14 N. Y. R., 74. 

The inducements offered to children by the Children’s Aid Society, to travel 
and find new hom^s, do not constitute enticement. 

Nash v. Douglass, 12 Abb. P. R., N. S., 187. 


Abandonment and Exposure op Children. 

§ 45. If the father or mother of any child under the age of 
six years, or any other person to whom any such child shall 
have been confided, shall expose such child in any highway, 
street, field, house or out-house, with intent wholly to abandon 
8 




r 


114 


it, lie or she shall, upon conviction, be punished bj imprison- 
ment in a State prison, not exceeding seven years, or in a 

county jail not more than one year. 

3 Revised Statutes, p. 937, § 45. 


Producing Pretended Heir. 

§ 56. Every person who shall fraudulently produce an infant, 
falsely pretending it to have been born of parents whose child 
would be entitled to a share of any personal estate, or to 
inherit any real estate, with the intent of intercepting the in¬ 
heritance of any such real estate, or distribution of any such 
personal property, from any person lawfully entitled thereto, 
shall, upon conviction, be punished by imprisonment in a 
State prison not exceeding ten years. 

3 Revised Statutes, p. 948, § 56. 


Substitution of Children. 

§ 57. Every person to whom an infant under the age of six 
years shall be confided for nursing, education or any other 
purpose, who shall, with intent to deceive any parent or guar¬ 
dian of such child, substitute and produce to such parent or 
guardian, another child in the place of the one so confided, 
shall, upon conviction, be punished by imprisonment in a State 
prison not exceeding seven years. 

3 Revised Statutes, p. 948, § 57. 




Concealing Death of Child. 

§ 22. Any woman who shall endeavor privately, either by 
herself or the procurement of others, to conceal the death of 
any issue of her body, which, if born alive, would by law be a 
bastard whether it was born dead or alive, or whether it was 
murdered or not, shall be deemed guilty of a misdemeanor, and 
shall on conviction thereof, be punished by imprisonment in a 
county jail, not exceeding one year. 

3 Revised Statutes, p. 972, § 22; Laws 1845, ch. 260. 





ii5 


§ 23. Any woman wlio shall be convicted a second time of 
the offense specified in the fourth section of this act, shall be 
imprisoned in a State prison for a term not less than two or 
more than five years. 

o Revised Statutes, p. 973, § 23; Laws 1846, ch. 260. 


Acrobatic Performances. 

*§ 18. It shall not be lawful for the proprietor, lessee or occu¬ 
pant of any l^all, assembly room, or other place where acroba¬ 
tic exhibitions are had, to suffer or permit any acrobat, rope 
walker or other performer, to perform on any trapeze, tight 
rope, wire, pole, or other acrobatic contrivance, without net¬ 
work or other sufficient means of protection from danger by 
falling or other accident. 

2 Revised Statutes, p. 91(5, § 18; Laws, 1871, ch. 259. 


§ 19. Each and every proprietor, lessee or occupant of such 
hall, assembly room, or other place where acrobatic exhibitions 
are had, and every other person violating any of the provisions 
of this act, shall be deemed guilty of a misdemeanor, and shall, 
on conviction, pay a fine of two hundred and fifty dollars 
for the first offense, and two hundred and fifty dollars for each 
subsequent offense, and in addition, imprisonment for not less 
than three months, nor exceeding one year; and in addition 
shall be held liable for all injuries occurring to any acrobat or 
other performer as aforesaid, resulting from any violation of this 
act. 

2 Revised Statutes, p. 916, § 19; Laws 1871, ch. 259. 


§ 20. Policemen, constables, marshals, sheriffs and their de¬ 
puties, superintendents of public buildings, and inspectors of 
buildings, learning or knowing of any such violation, shall imme¬ 
diately arrest or cause to be arrested, all persons so violating 
the provisions of this act. 

2 Revised Statutes, p. 917, § 20; Laws 1871, ch. 259. 






Obscene Books, Indecent Instruments, Suppression of Vice- 

§ 77. If any person shall sell, or offer to sell, or shall give 
away, or offer to give away, or have in his or her possession, 
with or without intent to sell or give away, any obscene and 
indecent book, pamphlet, paper, drawing, lithograph, engraving, 
daguerreotype, photograph, stereoscopic picture, model, cast, in¬ 
strument or article of indecent or immoral use, or medicine for 
procuring abortion, or shall advertise the same for sale, or 
write or cause to be written, or print or cause to be printed 
any circular, handbill, card, book, pamphlet, advertisement or 
notice of any kind, or shall give information orally, stating 
when, how or of whom, or by what means any of tlie said in¬ 
decent and obscene articles and things hereinbefore mentioned 
can be purchased or otherwise obtained, or shall manufacture, 
draw and expose, or draw with intent to sell, or to have sold,, 
or print any such articles, every such person shall, on convic¬ 
tion thereof, be imprisoned in the county jail or state prison 
not more than six months, or be fined not less than one hun¬ 
dred nor more than one thousand dollars for each offense. 
One half of said fine to be paid to the informer upon whose evi¬ 
dence the person so offending shall be convicted, and one-half 
to the school fund of the county in which the said conviction is* 
obtained, except that in the city and county of New York, if 
the conviction is in said city and county, one half shall go to- 
the treasurer of the Homoeopathic Dispensary, in said city and 
county, and in the county of Kings, one-half shall go to the 
Brooklyn Homoeopathic Hospital, when theconviction is in the 
county of Kings. And in every other county of the state, one- 
half of the said fine shall go to the treasurer of the orphan 
asylum of said county, if there be such an institution in the 
county. 

8 Revised Statutes, p. 979 § 77; Laws 1872, ch. 747,. 


§ 78. If any person shall sell, or lend, or give away, or in any 
manner exhibit, or shall offer to sell, or to lend, or to give away, 
or in any manner to exhibit, or shall otherwise publish or offer 



117 


to publish in any manner, or shall have in his possession, for 
•any such purpose or purposes, any obscene book, pamphlet, 
paper, writing, advertisement, circular, print, picture, drawing 
or other representation, figure or image on or of paper, or other 
material, or any cast, instrument or other articles of an in¬ 
decent or immoral nature, or use, or any drug or medicine, or 
any article whatever, for the prevention of 'conception, or for 
•causing unlawful abortion; or shall advertise the same for sale, 
or shall write or print, or cause to be written or printed, any 
•card, circular, book, pamphlet, advertisement or notice of any 
kind whatsoever, stating when, where, how or of whom, or by 
what means, any of the articles in this section hereinbefore 
mentioned can be purchased or obtained, or shall manufacture, 
draw or print, or in anywise make any of such articles, every 
such person if of twenty-one years of age, or over, shall, on 
conviction thereof, be imprisoned at hard labor for not less 
than three months, or more that two years, and be fined not 
less than one hundred dollars, or more than five thousand dol¬ 
lars for each offense; but if under twenty-one years of age, 
shall be imprisoned not more than three months and be fined 
not more than five hundred dollars, in the discretion of the 
■court, for each offense; one-half of said fine shall be paid to the 
orphan asylum of the county, and one-half to the school fund 
of the county in which said conviction is obtained, except 
that in the city and county of New York, one-half shall go to 
the Female Guardian Society in said city, and the other half 
to the Prison Association of New York. 

3 Revised Statutes, p. 979, § 78, Laws 1872, ch. 747, as amended 
Laws 1873, ch. 777. 


§ 82. If any person shall deposit, or cause to be deposited, 
in any post office within this State, or place in charge of any 
express company, or person connected therewith, or of any 
common carrier or other person, any of the obscene and indecent 
articles and things mentioned in the first section of this act, or 
any circular, handbill, card, advertisement, book, pamphlet, or 
notice of any kind, or shall give oral information stating where, 



118 


liow, or of whom such indecent and obscene articles or things 
can be purchased or otherwise obtained in any manner, with 
the intent of having the same conveyed by mail or express, or 
in any other manner ; or if any person shall knowingly or will¬ 
fully receive the same with intent to carry or convey, or shall 
carry or convey the same by express, or in any other manner 
(except in the United States mail); every person so offending 
shall, on conviction thereof, be subject for each offense to the 
same fines and penalties as are prescribed in the said first section 
of this act, for the offenses therein set forth, and said fine shall 
be divided and paid in the same manner as therein provided. 

8 Revised Statutes, p. 980, § 82; Laws 1872, eh. 747. 


§ 83. All magistrates are authorized, on due complaint, sup¬ 
ported by oath or affirmation, to issue a warrant directed to 
the sheriff of the county within which such complaint shall 
be made, or to any constable, marshal, or police officer within 
said county, directing him, them, or any of them, to search for, 
seize and take possession of such obscene and indecent books, 
papers, articles and things; and said magistrate shall transmit, 
inclosed and under seal, specimens thereof, to the district attorney 
of his county, and shall deposit within the county jail of his county 
or such other secure place as to him shall seem meet, inclosed 
and under seal, the remainder thereof, and shall, upon the convic¬ 
tion of the person or persons offending under any of the pro¬ 
visions of this act, forthwith, in the presence of the person or 
persons upon whose complaint the said seizure or arrest was 
made, if he or they shall, after notice thereof, elect to be pre¬ 
sent, destroy or cause to be destroyed the remainder thereof 
so seized as aforesaid, and shall cause to be entered upon the 
records of his court the fact of such destruction. 

3 Revised Statutes, p. 981, § 83; Laws 1872, ch. 747, as amended 
La we 1873, ch. 777. 


§ 84. It shall be the duty of the presiding judge of every 
court of sessions or Oyer and Terminer within this State, especi- 




119 


ally to charge the grand jury at each term of said court, to take 
notice of all offenses committed in violation of any of the pro¬ 
visions of this act; and it shall be the duty of all superintend¬ 
ents of the poor and commissioners of charities and corrections 
to prosecute and recover the penalties in this act. 

3 Revised Statutes, p. 981, § 84; Laws 1872, ch. 747. 


Obscene Books and Articles. 

§ 2491. All persons are prohibited from importing into the 
United States, from any foreign country, any obscene book, 
pamphlet, paper, writing, advertisement, circular, print, picture, 
drawing, or other representation, figure, or image, on, or of 
paper or other material, or any cast, instrument or other arti¬ 
cle of an immoral nature, or any drug or medicine, or any 
article whatever for the prevention of conception, or for caus¬ 
ing unlawful abortion. No invoice or package whatever, or 
any part of one in which an} 7- such articles are contained, shall 
be admitted to entry ; and all invoices and packages whereof 
any such articles shall compose a part, are liable to be pro¬ 
ceeded against, seized and forfeited by due course of law. All 
such prohibited articles, in the course of importation, shall be 
detained by the officer of customs, and proceedings taken 
against the same, as prescribed in the following section : 
Provided , That the drugs hereinbefore mentioned, when im¬ 
ported in bulk, and not put up for any of the purposes herein¬ 
before specified, are exempted from the operation of this sec¬ 
tion (*). 

U. S. Revised Statutes, p. 460, § 2491. 

(') See U. S. Revised Statutes, p. 318, § 1786, which provides a punishment for 
aiding in such importations. 


§ 2492. Any judge of any district or circuit court of the 
United States, within the proper district before whom com¬ 
plaint in writing of any violation of the preceding section, i& 
made, to the satisfaction of such judge, and founded on 
knowledge or belief, and if upon belief setting forth the grounds 




120 


of such belief, and supported by oath or affirmation of the 
complainant, may issue, conformably to the Constitution, a 
warrant directed to the marshal or any deput}' marshal in the 
proper district, directing him to search for, seize and take 
possession of any such article or thing hereinbefore mentioned, 
and to make due and immediate return thereof, to the end that 
the same may be condemned and destroyed by proceedings 
which shall be conducted in the same manner as other pro¬ 
ceedings in case of municipal seizure, and with the same right 
of appeal or w r rit of error. 

U. S. Revised Statutes, p. 460, § 2492. 


§ 3893. No obscene, lewd or lascivious book, pamphlet, pic¬ 
ture, paper, print or other publication of an indecent charac¬ 
ter, or any article or thing designed or intended for the pre¬ 
vention of conception or procuring of abortion, nor anj^ article 
or thing intended or adapted for any indecent or immoral use 
or nature, nor any written or printed card, circular, book, 
pamphlet, advertisement or notice of any kind, giving informa¬ 
tion, directly or indirectly, where or how, or of whom, or by 
what means either of the things before mentioned may be 
obtained or made, nor any letter upon the envelope of which, 
or postal card upon which, indecent or scurrilous epithets may 
be written or printed, shall be carried in the mail; and any 
person who shall knowingly deposit or cause to be deposited, 
for mailing or delivery, any of the hereinbefore mentioned 
articles or things, or any notice or paper containing any adver¬ 
tisement relating to the aforesaid articles or things, and any 
person w r ho in pursuance of any plan or scheme for disposing 
of any of the hereinbefore mentioned articles or things, shall 
take or cause to be taken from the mail any such letter or 
package, shall be deemed guilty of a 'misdemeanor, and shall 
for every offense be fined not less than one hundred dollars nor 
more than five thousand dollars, or imprisoned at hard labor 
not less than one year nor more than ten years, or both ( x ). 

U. S. Revised Statutes, p. 763, § 3893. 

(')All obscene books are excluded from the mail. U. S. Revised Statutes, p. 
761, § 3876. 


i 



121 


§ 86. Any agent of the New York Society for the Suppres¬ 
sion of Vice, upon being designated thereto by the sheriff of 
any county in this State, may within such county make arrests 
and bring before any court or magistrate thereof having juris¬ 
diction, offenders found violating the provisions of any law for 
the suppression of the trade in, and circulation of obscene 
literature and illustrations, advertisements and articles of in- 
•decent and immoral use, as it is or may be forbidden by the 
laws of this State, or of the United States.' 

3 Revised Statutes, p. 981, § 86; Laws 1875, ch. 201. 


Misdemeanors and their Punishment. 

§ 101. Where any duty is or shall be enjoined by law upon 
any public officer, or upon any person holding any public 
trust or employment, every wilful neglect to perform such duty, 
where no special provision shall have been made for the pun¬ 
ishment of such delinquency, shall be a misdemeanor, punish¬ 
able as herein prescribed (*). 

3 Revised Statutes, p. 983, § 101. 


(>) The wilful doing of an act forbidden by common law or statute, is indict- 
.able, though without any corrupt motive. 

People v. Norton, 7 Barb. R., 477. 

Clark v. Miller, 47 “ “ tl9. 

People v. Brooks, 1 Denio R., 457. 

'Cunningham v. Bucklin, 8 Cow. It., 178. 

People v. Bedell, 2 Ilill It., 197. 

People v. Bogart, 3 Ahb. Pr. It. 193. 

“ “ 3 Park., Cr., 143. 

People v. Liscomb, 60 N. Y. R., 559, 602. 


§ 102. Where the performance of any act is prohibited by 
anv statute, and no penalty for the violation of such statute is 
imposed, either in the same section containing such prohibi- 



122 


tion, or in any other section or statute, the doing such act 

shall be deemed a misdemeanor ( 1 ). 

3 Revised Statutes, p. 983 § 102. 

p) See last note. 

Malicious mischief to the person of another is a misdemeanor. 

People v. Blake, 1. Wheel. Cr. R., 490. 

Gilmore’s Case, 2 City H. R., 29. 

Malicious mischief to property is a misdemeanor. 

People v.' Smith, 5 Cow. R., 258. 

Loomis v. Edgerton, 19 Wend. R., 419. 

Kilpatrick v. People, 5 L'en. R., 277. 

Cruelty to animals is a misdemeanor. 

Morris’ Case, 6 City H. R., 62. 


§ 103. Every person who shall be convicted of any misde¬ 
meanor, the punishment of which is not prescribed in this or 
some other statute, shall be punished by imprisonment in a 
county jail, not exceeding one year, or by a fine not exceeding 
two hundred and fifty dollars, or by both such fine and impris¬ 
onment ( 2 ). 

3 Revised Statutes, p. 983, § 103. 

( 2 ) On conviction of a misdemeanor, for which no punishment is prescribed, the 
prisoner shall be punished under this section. 

Foote v. People. 56 N. Y. R., 321. 

Behan v. People, 17 N. Y. R., 516. 

Hill v. People, 20 N. Y., 363. 


Slaves. 

§3. No person shall, under any color or pretext whatever,, 
sell any other person as a slave ; and whoever shall offend 
against this provision shall be deemed guilty of a misdemeanor, 
and, on conviction, shall be subject to a fine not exceeding two 
thousand dollars, or to imprisonment in the county jail, not 
exceeding three years, or to imprisonment in a State prison not 
exceeding fourteen years ( 3 ). 

2 Revised Stytutes, p. 910, § 3. 

( 3 ) The Temple v. Lemmon, 5 Sand., 681 




123 


The Use of Children Under Sixteen, for Certain Pur¬ 
poses, Declared a Misdemeanor. 

An Act in relation to mendicant and vagrant children (*) : 

§ 9. Any person, whether as parent, relative, guardian, em¬ 
ployer, or otherwise, having in his care, custody or control, any 
child under the age of sixteen years, who shall sell, apprentice, 
give away, let out, or otherwise dispose of any such child to 
any person, under any name, title or pretence, for the vocation* 
use, occupation, calling, service, or purpose of singing, playing 
on musical instruments, rope walking, dancing, begging, or 
peddling in any public street or highway, or in any mendicant 
or wandering business whatever; and any person who shall 
take, receive, hire, employ, use or have in custody, any such 
child for such purposes, or either of them, shall be deemed to 
be guilty of a misdemeanor, and, upon conviction thereof before 
any court of Special Sessions, or other competent tribunal, shall 
be fined in a sum not less than fifty, nor more than two hun¬ 
dred and fifty dollars, or suffer imprisonment in a county jail 
for a period not less than thirty days, nor more than one year, 
or both such fine and imprisonment, in the discretion of the 
court. 

3 Revised Statutes, p. 164, §9; Laws 1874, Ch. 116. 

(') Criminal Children. 

16 Law Magazine, N. S., 162. (1852.) 

Vagrant and Criminal Children. 

18 Law Review, 382. (1853.) 

How should the Child Criminal be treated. 

Id., p. 126. 

Taper on the Neglected and Criminal Children of the United States, by Miss. 
Mary Carpenter. 

Proceedings of American Social Science Association, 1875. 


An Act to Prevent and Punish Wrongs to Children. 

§ 1. Any person having the care, custody or control of 
any child under the age of sixteen years, who shall exhibit,, 
use, or employ, or who shall in any manner, or under any pre- 



124 


tense, sell, apprentice, give away, let out, or otherwise dispose 
of any such child to any person, in or for the vocation, occupa¬ 
tion, service, or purpose of singing, playing on musical instru¬ 
ments, rope or wire walking, dancing, begging or peddling, or 
as a’ gymnast, contortionist, rider or acrobat, in any place 
whatsoever ; or for or in any obscene, indecent or immoral pur¬ 
pose, exhibition or practice whatsoever ; or for or in any busi¬ 
ness, exhibition or vocation, injurious to the health or danger¬ 
ous to the life or limb of such child ; or who shall cause, pro¬ 
cure or encourage any such child to engage therein, shall be 
guilty of a misdemeanor. 

Nothing in this section contained shall apply to or affect 
the employment or use of any such child as a singer or mu¬ 
sician in any church, school or academy, or the teaching or 
learning the science or practice of music, nor the employ¬ 
ment of any child as a musician at any concert or enter¬ 
tainment, on the written consent of the mayor of the city or 
president of the board of trustees of the village where such 
concert or entertainment shall take place. 

Laws 1876, chap. 122, § 1. 


§ 2. Every person who shall take, receive, hire, employ, 
use, exhibit, or have in custody any child under the age, and 
for any of the purposes mentioned in the first section of this 
act, shall be guilty of a misdemeanor. 

Laws 1876, chap. 122, §2. 


§ 3. When, upon examination before any court or magis¬ 
trate, it shall .appear that any child, within the age previ¬ 
ously mentioned in this act, was engaged or used for or in 
any business, or exhibition, or vocation, or purpose specified 
and as mentioned in this act; and when, upon the conviction 
of any person of a criminal assault upon a child in his or her 
custody, the court or magistrate before whom such conviction 
is had shall deem it desirable, for the welfare of such child, 



1*25 


that the person so convicted should be deprived of its custody 
thereafter, such court or magistrate may commit such child to 
an orphan asylum, charitable or other institution, or make such 
other disposition thereof as now is or hereafter may be provid¬ 
ed by law in cases of vagrant, truant, disorderly, pauper or des¬ 
titute children. 

Laws 1876, chap. 122, § 3. 


§ 4. 'Whoever, having the care or custody of any child, shall 
willfully cause or permit the life of such child to be endanger¬ 
ed, or the health of such child to be injured, or who shall 'will¬ 
fully cause or permit such child to be placed in such a situa¬ 
tion that its life maybe endangered, or its health shall be likely 
to be injured, shall be guilty of a misdemeanor. 

Laws 1876, chap. 122, § 4. 


§ 5. All fines, penalties, and forfeitures imposed and collected 
in any county in this State, under the provisions of this and of 
every act passed, or which may be passed, relating to or affect¬ 
ing children, in every case where the prosecution shall be in¬ 
stituted or conducted by a society incorporated pursuant to the 
provisions of chapter one hundred and thirty of the laws of 
eighteen hundred and seventy-five, being an act entitled “ An 
Act for the incorporation of societies for the prevention of 
cruelty to children,” shall, except where otherwise provided, 
enure to such society in aid of the purposes for which it was 
incorporated. 

Laws 1876, chap. 122, § 6. 


§ 6. Nothing herein contained shall be construed as affecting 
the punishment of offenses under chapter one hundred and 
sixteen of the laws of eighteen hundred and seventy-four, entitled 
“ An Act in relation to mendicant and vagrant children ” (*). 
Laws 1876, chap. 122, § 6. 

(’) This act has been construed by the Supreme Court, in the following case: 




126 


SUPREME COURT, 

City and County ok Nett Yoke. 


In the Matter 




Joseph Donohue, and Henry and Alfred' 
T. Ellis. 


These boys, of the respective ages of fourteen, nine and eight years, were brought 
before the Recorder of Poughkeepsie, on a charge made by the New York Society 
for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children, of being employed as gymnasts and ac¬ 
robats. At the same time, their master, Alfred Smith and John II. Murray, the 
proprietor of Murray’s Circus, were arrested, charged wiih exhibiting, using and 
employing these boys as gymnasts and acrobats. 

Upon their examination before the Recorder, the facts charged against Smith 
and Murray were proved, and they tendered recognizances for their appearance 
at the Court of Oyer and Terminer. 

Upon such examination, the Recorder found that the boys were engaged in the 
business of gymnasts and acrobats, and thereupon committed them to the Society 
aforesaid. 

Smith obtained a writ of habeas corpus to recover these children. The case was 
referred to Wm. Sinclair, Esq., to take testimony. It was proved, under the ob¬ 
jection of the counsel for the Society, that the boys had been apprenticed to Smith 
by their parents, who resided in England, to learn the trade of gymnasts and acro¬ 
bats, and formal indentures were produced. No acts of cruelty on the part of Smith 
were proved; on the contrary, the evidence tended to show that he treated the 
children kindly and as if they were his own. The oldest boy testified to being 
well treated, and expressed a strong wish to return to his master and his trade. 

The proceedings before the Recorder consisting of a certified copy of his min¬ 
utes, constituting his judgment, and the warrant of commitment, which recited the 
act relating to the Common Council of the city of New York, passed January 23, 
1833, and the act to prevent and punish wrongs to children, passed April 14,1876, 
were put in evidence. 


Messrs. Van Wj-ck, Glassey and Raymond, of counsel for the relators, made the 
following points; 


1. The petitioner, Smith, is the proper person to have the custody of the chil¬ 
dren, and the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children has no authority to 
hold them. 




127 


2. The Act of 1876 is unconstitutional, in that it imposes a penalty, and deprives 
Smith of his rights to these children, without a trial by jury or due process of law. 

U. S. Constitution, Art. Ill, § 2. 

N. Y. Constitution, Art. I., §§ 6, 7. 

Hill v. People, 20 N. Y. R., 363. 

Cancemi v. People, 16 N. Y. R., 601. 

Wood v. City, tfec., 14 Barb. R., 426. 

Matter of .Tames, 30 How. R., 446. 

Wynehamer v. People, 13 N. Y! R., 378. 

3. The proceedings before the Recorder did not constitute a final judgment. 

Trainor v. Cooper, 8 How., 288. 

Wilcox v. Wilcox, 14 N. Y. R., 675. 

4. These proceedings were irregular, because based upon the Act of 1833. 

Mr. Lewis L. Delafield, counsel for the Society, made the following points: 

I.—The proceedings before the Recorder constitute a final judgment as to tha 
children. 

The third section of the Act of 1876 provides for two classes of cases, in either 
of which the court may commit the child to an asylum. 

First. —When, upon an examination, it appears that the child has been used for 
any of the purposes declared unlawful by the first section. 

Second. —When, upon conviction of any person for criminal assault upon a child 
in his custody, the court shall be of the opinion that the person so convicted 
should be deprived of its custody. 

The two cases provided for are entirely distinct. This commitment is made 
under the first provision, and is final. 

Matter of Miller, 1 Daly R., 563. 

Matter of Rice, 37 How. P. R., 494. 

Matter of McCabe, 8 Abb. P. R., 112. 

3 R. S., 875, § 36. 

3 R. S., 878, § 55. 

3 R. S., 879, § 57. 

3 Hill R., 658, note 30. 

Authorities collected in, 

3 Abb., N. Y., Digest 565. 

Hurd on Hab. Cor., 326, 328. 

This provision of the Act of 1876 is analogous to the vagrant law. 

2 R. S., 836, 837, §§ 1-3 (6th ed). 

Such a committal under the vagrant law has repeatedly been held to be a final 
judgment. 

Opinion of Leonard, J., in Matter of Mary Miller, 

N. Y. Special Term, Sep. 27, 1872. 

The Recorder’s judgment is a final judgment. All the evidence taken under 
my objection is inadmissible. The only inquiry that can be made is 

First. —Does such a judgment exist? 


128 


Second .—Had the Recorder’s Court jurisdiction ? 

Neither of these points are disputed. 

11 —The recital in the warrant of the Act of 1833 is immaterial and mere sur¬ 
plusage. The warrant was based on the Act of 1876. A reference to a wrong 
statute no more invalidates an order than a wrong reason does a right decision.. 
Matter of Barre, 14 Abb. Pr. R., N. S., 426. 

IXJ. —The Act of 1876 is constitutional. 

The State, as parens patrue, has the original right to the control and disposition 
of a u minors. It confides a part of its right to a parent as a trust. Like every 
other trust, when abused it is forfeited and the State reassumes its original 

1>OWet 9 ‘ Chambers on Chancery jurisdiction relating to infants, pp. 6> 

10, 158, 160-178. 

Willard Eq. Jur., 619. 

Mercein v. People, 25 Wend. R., 103 ; per Paige, 104. 

2 Story Eq. Jur., § 1341. 

2 Kent Com., p. 205, 195. 

Forsyth, Custody of infants, p. 16, <kc. 

52 Law Library U. S., p. 16. 

Hurd on Hab. Cor., 455, 462. 

Matter of Clifton, 47 How. Pr. R., 172. 

Wilcox v. Wilcox, 14 N. Y. R., 577. 

22 Barb. R., 178. 

1 Crary Sp. Pr., 388. 


It is an abuse of language, therefore, to talk of the “ property ” which a parent 
has in his child. He has rights over, but no property in. 

It is a perversion of all reasoning to claim that the clause of the constitution pro¬ 
viding that “property” shall not be taken “without due process of law,” and 
M just compensation ” applies to children. 

There can be no property in human beings under the constitution as it is. But 
if it did apply, the child is taken “ by due process of law” as next shown. 

The other clause invoked is: 

“The trial by jury in all cases in which it has been heretofore used, shall remain 
inviolate forever; but a jury trial may be waived by the parties in all civil cases 
in the manner to be prescribed by law.” 

Al t. 1, § 2. 

There never was a time either here or in England when questions relating to 
the custody of infants were tried by jury. This is a distinct and perfectly well 
established branch of equity jurisprudence. 

There are many classes of rights which can be disposed of by courts without 
the intervention of juries. 

All equity proceedings. 

Matter of Empire Bank, 18 N. Y. R., 199, 210. 

Ratlibun vs. Rathbun, 3 How. Pr. R., 139. 


129 


The acquiring of lands under enjinent domain by commissioners, is constitu¬ 
tional. 

Beekman vs. Saratoga, <ftc., 3 Paige, 45. 

Livingston vs. Mayor, 8 Wend., 85. 

The committal of vagrant and disorderly persons without a trial by jury an ex¬ 
amination only, is constitutional. 

Duffy vs. People, 6 Hill, *75. 

Morris vs. People, 1 Park., Cr. R., 441. 

Plato vs. People, 3 Park., Cr. R., 586. 

All cases which could be^determined before 1777 without a jury, may now be so 
determined. 

See authorities collected. 

2 Abb., N. Y. Digest (new ed.), pp. 123, 124. 

The act of 1876 is precisely analogous to the vagrant law. It is based upon it. 
The one permits the court to dispose of the vagrant, the other of the child upon 
“ the examination.” 

2 R. S., 836, §§ 1-3 (6th ed.). 

The constitutionality of the vagrant law is undisputed. It descended to us as 
part of the common law. The right of the Court of Chancery to dispose of chil¬ 
dren descended in the same manner. It has been held that the disorderly act, 
Law of 1833, is constitutional although it introduced to our law a variety of 
offences unknown to the existing law, but of the same nature, and embi’aced by the 
same principle. 

Duffy vs. People, 4 Hill R., 79. 

The act of 1876 introduces nothing new. It only defines certain cases over 
which chancery had jurisdiction before. 

But if there was anything new so long as it is analogous to the previous practice 
it would be constitutional under the above decision. 

IV.—The caprice of a child should not be allowed to override his true interests 
in the selection of a guardian, especially when his imagination has been dazzled 
by the glare and glitter of the stage. 

Hurd on Hab. Cor., pp. 466, 531-535. 

People vs. Mercein, 8 Paige, 477. 

Matter of J. K Wollstonecraft, 4 Johns. Chy. R., 80. 

SUPREME COURT, 

N. Y. Chambers, September Term, 1876. 

In the Matter 


JosEPn Donohue, Alfred T. Ellis, and 
Henry Ellis. 


Proceedings on habeas corpus by Alfred Smith to obtain the custody and care of 
the above named parties, who are infants under the age of sixteen years, and who 

9 








hIso were committed on the ninth day of September, 1876, by the Recorder of the 
city of Poughkeepsie, under chapter 124 of the Laws of 1876, to the care of Lhe 
New York Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children. 

Messrs. Van Wyck Glassey & Raymond, 

For Petitioner Smith. 

Mr. L. L. Delafield & W. H. Gibson, 

For the Society. 


Westbrook, Justice:— 

The children, whose custody this proceeding involves, are confessedly of tender 
years, and were, when the order committing them to the care of the Society was 
made, employed by the relator, Smith, as acrobats; and if they are again com¬ 
mitted to his care, they will doubtless be used for the same purpose, as he claims 
they are regularly indentured to him for that object. 

Chapter 122 of the Laws of 1876, entitled “An Act to prevent and punish 
wrongs to children,” makes the use, employment, or exhibition of children under 
sixteen years of age, by any person, for any such purpose as Smith has used and 
held them, a misdemeanor. By section three of the act, the Recorder of the city of 
Poughkeepsie was fully authorized to make the order committing them to the care 
of the Society aforesaid, and the principal questions which this proceeding presents 
concern the act, and by implication only, the action of the Recorder, which action 
such act fully justifies. 

The order of the Recorder committing these children to the care of the Society 
now detaining them, was his final judgment upon that matter. It was one which, 
under the act aforesaid, he was fully authorized to make, and which, as it seems 
tome,is notreviewable by habeas corpus. The writ is not allowable (vol. 8 R. S., 
6th edition, page 878, section 36), to a person “committed or detained by virtue 
of the final judgment or decree of any competent tribunal of civil or criminal 
jurisdiction f and if the writ issues, and it appears the party is so detained (same 
volume, page 878, section 55), it is the duty of “ the court or officer” before whom 
such proceeding is pending, “ forthwith to remand such party and lastly (page 
879, section 57), “ no court or officer, on the return of any habeas corpus * * * 

shall have power to inquire into the legality or justice of any * * * judg¬ 
ment * * * specified in the preceding twenty-second section.” I am aware 

that a plausible argument can be made upon the words “ competent tribunal” used 
in the statute. It is said that the order of the Recorder was not one made by a 
“ competent tribunal,” because the statute conferring the power is unconstitu¬ 
tional, and hence it was not “ competent” for him to make the one under which 
the children are now held. If the act be unconstitutional, it was undoubtedly 
not “ competent” for the officer to act under it at all, and if in that sense the word 
is used in the Habeas Corpus Act, the action of the Recorder would be reviewable 
upon this proceeding. The same statute, however, has also declared, that the 
court or officer before whom the writ is returnable is without “ power to inquire 
into the legality or justice of any * * * judgment ” rendered “ by any com¬ 

petent tribunal of civil or criminal jurisdiction,” and by necessity, therefore, it is 
forbidden, as that must involve the “legality” of the “judgment,” to inquire into 


131 


ilie constitutionality of the act under which the officer in making the order acts. 
In one sense, the Recorder was a “competent tribunal.” To him the same 'power, 
hhe Legislature, which passed the Habeas Corpus Act, had confided the duty and 
right of doing what he undertook to do, and it is hardly supposable that there 
was any intention, in the use of the words we are considering, to clothe an officer 
or court, which must summarily act, with the grave prerogative of nullifying 
legislative action. It is safer and better, when a judgment has been rendered, 
which an express statute authorizes, to leave its- review to the regular and more 
-deliberate process of the higher courts, than to make of every court and officer 
authorized to issue this writ a tribunal summarily to decide such grave and 
momentous questions (People vs. Fancher, 9 Sup. Ct. Reports, N. Y., 2 Ilun., 226). 

If, however, the decision upon this application must depend upon the constitu¬ 
tionality of the Act of 1876, no great difficulty is seen. The right of the State to 
care for its children has always, and with very great propriety, been exercised. 
Under its laws, whenever the welfare of the child has demanded, its courts have 
frequently interfered for the protection of children of tender years. It has again 
and again taken them from one parent and given them to the other, and has 
sometimes refused so to do, the good and welfare of the child being the object 
always in view. It has so acted without the intervention of a jury, and that power 
has never been supposed to have been improperly exercised, because a jury was 
not allowed, and due process of law not had. If the courts of the State may, by 
virtue of their general powers, interfere for the protection and care of children, it 
is not seen why the Legislature may not prescribe the cases, in which childreu 
shall be rescued from their custodians and a mode provided for their summary 
disposition. For example, if children should be placed to learn the business of 
stealing, could not the Legislature provide a summary remedy for the evil ? Has 
the law no power to rescue, summarily, female children held fbr purposes of pros¬ 
titution, or interfere in an expeditious manner in very many cases, when.children 
of tender years are exposed to peril or temptation ? This will hardly be argued, 
or, if claimed, authority most abundant can be found to justify it. Precisely this 
ground the Act of 1876 covers. In myjudgment, it is a most wise, salutary, and 
beneficent statute, born of Christian civilization, and founded upon the teachings 
of Him, to whom children were objects of tender love and care. It needs no evi¬ 
dence to demonstrate to our judgment that the life to which these children were 
subjected, and from which they were rescued, was perilous to all their best inter¬ 
ests. It was a dangerous one to them, physically and morally. The contortions, 
-evolutions and performance of the acrobat are, clearly, physically dangerous, and 
the surroundings, accompaniments and companions of the circus-ring are equally 
so morally. The Recorder of the city of Poughkeepsie was clearly right, and his 
action must be upheld. 

The writs of habeas corpus are discharged, and the children remanded to the 
care of the Society, which has thus far properly discharged its duties. 


132 


Sale of Liquors to Minors and Others. 

§ 21. No inn, tavern or hotel-keeper, or any other person 
licensed to sell any strong or spirituous liquors or wines, shall sell 
or give away any such liquors or wines to any Indian or appren¬ 
tice, knowing or having reason to believe him to be such, with¬ 
out the consent of his master or mistress, nor to any minor 
under the age of eighteen years, without the consent of liis 
father or mother or guardian. Whoever shall offend against 
either of these provisions, shall forfeit ten dollars, to be recov¬ 
ered by the master of such apprentice or servant, or by the 
parent or guardian of such minor; and any person who shall 
sell or give away any strong or spirituous liquor to any Indian 
in this State, shall be deemed guilty of a misdemeanor, and, on 
conviction, shall be liable to a fine of twenty-five dollars for 
each and every offense (*). 

2 Revised Statutes, p. 937, § 21, Laws 1857, ch. 628, § 15. 

(’) The burden of proof is upon the plaintiff to show that the defendant had 
reason to believe that the minor was under eighteen. 

Perry v. Edwards, 44 N. Y. R., 223. 

Ale and strong beer are “ strong or spirituous liquors." 

Nevin v. Ladue, 3 Den. R., 43. 

Commissioners v. Taylor, 21 N. Y. R., 173. 

Contra, People v. Ceilley, 20 Barb. R., 246. 

Lager beer is an intoxicating liquor, if the jury determine that it is commonly 
attended with intoxication. 

People v. Zeiger, 6 Park. Cr., 355. 

Selling without a license is a misdemeanor and indictable. 

People v. Stevens, 13 Wend. R., 341. 

People v. Brown, 16 “ 661. 

Blatchley v. Meser, 15 “ 215. 


§ 22. It shall be the duty of every sheriff, under sheriff, 
deputy sheriff, constable, marshal, policeman or officer of 
police, to arrest all persons actually engaged in the commission 
of any offense in violation of this act, and forthwith to carry 
such person before any magistrate of the same city or town, 
to be dealt with according to the provisions of this act; and it 
slmll be the duty of such magistrate, on sufficient proof that 


133 


such offense has been committed, unless such person shall elect 
to be tried before such magistrate, and unless the offense 
•charged be intoxication in any public place, to require a 
bond to be executed bj' such offender in the penal sum of one 
hundred dollars, with sufficient sureties, conditioned that such 
offender will appear and answer the charge at the next Court 
of Oyer and Terminer, or sessions, to be held in said county, 
and abide the order and judgment of the court therein, or to 
commit such offender to the county jail until such judgment of 
said court, or until he be discharged according to law. And it 
shall be the duty of the magistrate to entertain any complaint 
of a violation of this act, made by any person under oath, and 
forthwith to issue a warrant, and cause such offender to be 
brought before him, to comply with the provisions of this sec¬ 
tion ; and such magistrate shall, within ten days, cause such 
bond, together with all papers and affidavits, with a list of the 
persons and residences of the complainants and witnesses ex¬ 
amined before him, to be delivered to the district-attorney of 
the county, whose duty it shall be forthwith to prosecute the 
same. 

2 Revised Statutes, p. 938, § 22; Laws 1857, ch. 628, § 16, 
as amended Laws 1869, ch. 856. 


Sale of Liquors to Habitual Drunkards, Children, Husbands 
or Wives. 

§ 27. It shall not be lawful, under the provisions of this act, 
to sell intoxicating liquors to any person guilty of habitual 
drunkenness, nor to any person against whom the seller may 
have been notified by parent, guardian, husband or wife, from 
selling intoxicating liquors, and every party so selling or retail¬ 
ing intoxicating liquors shall, on proof thereof, before any 
court of competent jurisdiction, be deprived of his license to 
sell, and shall not be allowed a renewal of said license ; and in 
addition, on conviction, shall be punished by a fine of not less 
than twenty dollars, nor more than fifty dollars, for each and 
every violation of the provisions herein set forth. If any inn, 


134 


tavern or hotel-keeper, or any other person or persons whatso¬ 
ever, knowingly (outside of any poor-house) shall sell or give to 
any pauper or inmate of any poor-house or alms-house strong 
or spirituous liquors or wines, such person or persons SO' 
offending shall be fined twenty-five dollars, and be guilty of a 
misdemeanor, and on conviction, shall be imprisoned not more 
than sixty days ( J ). 

2 Revised Statutes, p. 939, § 27; Laws 1857, eh. 628, § 20.. 

(') Foote v. People, 56 N. Y., 321. 

Hoard v. Peck, 66 Barb. R., 203. 


§ 36. Any person who shall sell any strong or spirituous: 
liquors or wines to any of the individuals to whom it is declared 
by this act to be unlawful to make such sale, shall be liable for 
all damages, which may be sustained in consequence of such, 
sale, and the parties so offending may be sued in any of the 
courts of this State by any individual sustaining such injuries,, 
or by the overseers of poor of the town where the injured 
party may reside, and the sum recovered shall be for the bene¬ 
fit of the party injured ( 2 ). 

2 Revised Statutes, p. 940, § 36, Laws 1857, ch. 628, § 28.. 

( 2 ) Hoard v. Peck, 56 Barb., 202. 


Damages against Persons Selling Liquor and their Land¬ 
lords. 

§ 66. Every husband, wife, child, parent, guardian, employer 
or other person, who shall be injured in person, or property, or 
means of support, by any intoxicated person, or in consequence 
of the intoxication, habitual or otherwise, of any person, shall 
have a right of action in his or her name, against any person 
or persons who shall, by selling or giving away intoxicating 
liquors, caused (*) the intoxication, in whole or in part, of suck 
person or persons; and any person or persons owning or rent- 

( 3 ) So in original. 




135 


ing or permitting the occupation of any building or premises, 
and having knowledge that intoxicating liquors are to be sold 
therein, shall be liable severally or jointly with the person or 
persons selling or giving intoxicating liquors aforesaid, for all 
damages sustained and for exemplary damages ; and all dam¬ 
ages recovered by a minor under this act, shall be paid either 
to such minor, or to his or her parent, guardian or next friend, 
as the court shall direct; and the unlawful sale or giving away 
of intoxicating liquors shall work a forfeiture of all rights of 
the lessee or tenant under any lease or contract of rent upon 
the premises (*). 

2 Revised Statutes, p. 946, § 66, Laws 1873, ch. 646. 

(’) This act is constitutional. 

Baker v. Pope, 2 Hun. R., 656. 

Licenses previously granted, how affected. 

Du Bois v. Miller, 6 Hun., 332. 

Intoxication producing death. 

Hayes v. Phelan, 4 Hun., 733. 

Action by widow for death of her husband. Joint action may be main¬ 
tained against landlord and tenant. 

Jackson v. Brookins, 6 Hun. R., 630. 

Smith v. Reynold, 8 Hun. R., 128. 


§ 67. In any action arising for violations of the provisions of 
this act, any justice of the peace in the county where the offense 
is committed, shall have jurisdiction to try and determine the 
same ; providing the amount of damages claimed do not ex¬ 
ceed two hundred dollars, in which case and where damages 
claimed do not exceed five hundred dollars, the justice of the 
peace before whom the action is commenced, shall associate 
with himself any other two justices of the peace in the same 
county, who shall have jurisdiction to try and determine the 
same. 

2 Revised Statutes, p. 946, § 67; Laws 1873, cb. 64(j>. 


Betting and Gaming. 

§ 44. If any person shall, through invitation or device, per- 




13G 


suade or prevail on any person to visit any room, building, 
arbor, booth, shed, tenement, boat or float, kept for the pur¬ 
pose of gambling, he shall, upon conviction thereof, and upon 
proof that the person so invited has gambled therein, be held 
responsible for the money or property lost by such person so 
invited or persuaded by reason of such invitation or device, 
and in addition thereto he shall be fined and imprisoned ac¬ 
cording to the provisions of the second section of this act. 

2 Revised Statutes, p. 921, § 44; Laws 1851, ch. 504, § 5. 


Disorderly Persons. 

§ 1. All persons who shall abandon or neglect to support 
their wives or children, or who threaten to run away and leave 
their wives or children a burthen on the public ; all persons 
pretending to tell fortunes, or where lost or stolen goods may 
be found; all common prostitutes, all keepers of bawdy-houses 
or houses for the resort of prostitutes, drunkards, tipplers, 
gamesters, or other disorderly persons; all persons who have 
no visible profession or calling to maintain themselves by, but 
who do, for the most part, support themselves by gaming ; all 
jugglers, common showmen, and mountebanks, who exhibit or 
perform for profit any puppet-show, wire or rope dance, or 
other idle shows, acts, or feats ; all persons who keep in any 
public highway or place, or in any place where spirituous 
liquors are sold, any keno table, wheel of fortune, thimbles, or 
other table, box, machine, or device, for the purpose of gaming; 
all persons who go about with such table, wheel, or other ma¬ 
chine or device, exhibiting tricks, or gaming therewith ; all per¬ 
sons who play in public streets or highways, with cards, dice, or 
any other instrument or device for gaming ; shall be deemed 
disorderly persons f 1 ). 

2 Revised Statutes, 893, § 1. 

(') People v. Jackson, 3 Den. R., 101. 

Duffy v. People, 6 Hill R., 75. 

People v. Pettit, 3 Ilun. R., 416. 

“ v. Carroll, 3 Park. Cr. R., 73. 

Bennac v. People, 4 Barb. R., 164. 

Exposition of general law of disorderly persons, their commitment and re- 
lease under habeas corpus. 

Matter of Miller and eleven others, 1 Daly R., 562. 



137 


§ 2. Upon complaint made on oatli to any justice of the 
peace against any person as being disorderly, he shall issue his 
warrant for the apprehension of the offender, and cause him or 
her to be brought before such justice for examination. If it 
shall appear by the confession of the offender, or by competent 
testimony, that he or she is a disorderly person, the justice may 
require of the offender sufficient sureties for his or her good 
behavior for the space of one year. In default of such sure¬ 
ties being found, the justice shall make up, sign, and file in the 
County Clerk’s office, a record of the conviction of such offender 
as a disorderly person, specifying generally the nature and cir¬ 
cumstances of the offence, and shall, by warrant under his 
hand, commit such offender to the common jail of the city or 
eounty, there to remain until such sureties be found or such 
offender be discharged according to law ( 1 ). 

2 Revised Statutes, p. 893, § 2. 

(') Bennac v. People, 4 Barb. R., 31. 

People v. Duffy. 5 “ 205. 

Millett v. Baker, 42 “ 215. 

Approved, 42 N. Y. R., *70. 

People v. Pettit, 3 Hun. R., 416. 


§ 9. The court may discharge such disorderly person from 
confinement, either absolutely or upon receiving sureties for his 
or her good behavior in its discretion ; or the said court may, 
in its discretion, authorize the county superintendents of the 
poor, or the overseers of the poor of any town, or the commis¬ 
sioners of any almshouse, to bind out such disorderly persons 
as shall be minors in some lawful calling, as servants, appren¬ 
tices, mariners, or otherwise, until they shall be of full age re¬ 
spectively ; or to contract for the service of such disorderly 
persons as shall be of full age, with any person, as laborers, 
servants, apprentices, mariners, or otherwise, for any term not 
exceeding one year; which binding out and contracts shall be 
as valid and effectual as the indenture of any apprentice with 
his own consent and the consent of his parents, and shall sub¬ 
ject the persons so bound out or contracted to the same con- 



138 


trol of tlieir masters respectively, and of the Court of Sessions, 
as if they were so bound as apprentices ( 1 ). 

2 Revised Statutes, p. 894, § 9. 

See Laws 1847, ch. 286, § 44. 

(’) People v. Brown, 23 Wend. R., 47. 


§ 10. The court may, in its discretion, order any such dis¬ 
orderly person to be kept in the common jail for any term not 
exceeding six months at hard labor, or may direct that during 
any part of the time of imprisonment not exceeding thirty days, 
such offender shall be kept on bread and water only. 

2 Revised Statutes, p. 894, § 10. 


§ 11. If there be no means provided in such jail for employ¬ 
ing offenders at hard labor the court may direct the keeper 
there6f to furnish such employment as it shall specify to such 
disorderly persons as shall be committed thereto, either by a 
justice or any court, and for that purpose to purchase any 
necessary raw materials and implements, not exceeding in 
amount such sum as the court shall prescribe, and compel such 
persons to perform such work as shall be allotted to them. 

2 Revised Statutes; p. 894, § 11. 


Special Provisions for City of New York. 

§ 18. Every person who shall threaten to abandon, or who 
shall have actually abandoned, his family, wife or child, in the 
city of New York, without adequate support, or in danger of 
becoming a burden upon the public, or who may neglect to 
provide according to his means for his family, or any member 
of said family, is hereby declared a disorderly person. All 
provisions of law in relation to disorderly persons in the city 
of New York, shall apply to any person so offending; and any 






139 


member of the defendant’s family, of otherwise legal qualifica¬ 
tions, shall be a competent witness to be examined. In case 
the defendant shall offer himself to be examined under oath, he 
shall be examined like any other witness. 

2 Revised Statutes, p. 895, § 18; Laws 1860, ch. 508. 


§ 19. In case of the conviction of any such person as a dis¬ 
orderly person, the magistrate convicting shall make an order 
specifying a certain sum to be paid to the governors of the 
almshouse department of said city, weekly, for and towards the 
support of the family of said defendant; and all provisions of 
law in relation to the enforcement of orders, for the support of 
bastard children in said city, after conviction, shall, as far a& 
practicable, apply to the enforcement of any order made in 
pursuance of this section, by the magistrate convicting ; except 
that the order shall be for the stated period of one year, and 
that any appeal from, or amendment to said order, shall be ex¬ 
clusively for the action of the court of Special Sessions afore¬ 
said. 

2 Revised Statutes, p. 896, § 19; Laws 1860, ch. 508. 


§ 20. No person who shall have been convicted as a disor¬ 
derly person as aforesaid, and who shall have been committed 
to prison, in pursuance of the provisions of the preceding sec¬ 
tion of this act, shall be discharged therefrom, without the 
written approval of the magistrate making the commitment; 
except he be discharged by a court of competent jurisdiction,, 
or other legal proceedings for that purpose. 

2 Revised Statutes, p. 896, § 20; Laws 1860, ch. 508. 


§ 21. In all cases of arrest for intoxication or disorderly con¬ 
duct in the city of New York, the police justice shall have 





140 


power, in addition to bolding the party to bail for good be¬ 
havior, to impose a fine not exceeding ten dollars in each case, 
or to commit to the city prison not exceeding ten days ; each 
day of imprisonment to be taken as a liquidation of one dollar 
of the fine. The governors of the almshouse shall not, in the 
cases where by law they are empowered to discharge vagrants 
from the institution under their control, hereafter discharge 
any of said vagrants from custody, before the expiration of 
their terms of imprisonment, without the written consent of 
the committing magistrate in each case. All fines collected 
by wardens of prisons shall be paid by them to the clerks of 
the courts by whom said fines were imposed ; and said clerks 
shall return the same monthly, under oath, to the county treas¬ 
urer, with the names of the persons paying the same, and the 
amount paid by each. 

2 Revised Statutes, p. 896, § 21; Laws of 1859, ch. 491. 


§ 22. Every person in said city and c.ounty shall be deemed 
guilty of disorderly conduct that tends to a breach of the 
peace, who shall in any thoroughfare or public place in said 
city and county commit any of the following offenses, that is 
to say : 

1st; Every person who shall suffer to be at large any unmuz¬ 
zled, ferocious or vicious dog. 

2d. Every common prostitute or night-walker loitering or 
being in any thoroughfare or public place for the purpose of 
prostitution or solicitation to the annoyance of the inhabitants 
or passers by. 

3d. Every person who shall use any threatening, abusive or 
insulting behavior with the intent to provoke a breach of the 
peace or whereby a breach of the peace may be occasioned. 

2 Revised Statutes, p. 896, § 22 ; Laws 1860, ch. 508. 


Certain Local Acts.—Minors not Admitted to Theatres. 

§ 94. It shall not be lawful for any owner, lessee, manager, 
agent or officer of any theatre in the city of New York, to ad- 




141 


mit to any theatrical exhibition held in the evening, any minor 
under the age of fourteen years, unless such minor is accom¬ 
panied by and is in the care of some adult person. 

3 Reyised Statutes, 982, § 91; Laws 1859, ch. 48. 


§ 95. Any person violating the above provision shall be guilty 
of a misdemeanor, and shall be liable to a fine, not less than 
twenty-five dollars nor more than one hundred dollars, or im¬ 
prisonment for a term not less than ten nor more than ninety 
days, for each offense. 

3 Revised Statutes, 982, § 95; Laws 1859, ch. 48. 


§ 96. All moneys recovered under the provisions of this act 
for fines, shall be paid over to the treasurer of the Society for 
the Reformation of Juvenile Delinquents in the city of New 
York, for the benefit of such society. 

8 Revised Statutes. 982, § 96; Laws 1859, ch. 48. 


An Act Relative to the Powers of the Common Council of 
the City of New York, and the Police and Criminal 
Courts of the said City, Passed January 23d, 1833. 

§ 1. All persons, who, being habitual drunkards, are destitute 
and without visible means of support, or who, being such hab¬ 
itual drunkards, shall abandon, neglect or refuse to aid in the 
support of their families, who may be complained of by such 
families; all persons who shall have contracted an infectious 
or other disease in the practice of drunkenness or debauchery, 
requiring charitable aid to restore them to health ; all common 
prostitutes who have no lawful employment whereby to main¬ 
tain themselves; all able bodied or sturdy beggars who may 
apply for alms or solicit charity; all persons wandering abroad, 
lodging in watch-houses, out-houses, market places, sheds, 





142 


stables or uninhabited buildings, or in the open air, and not 
giving a good account of themselves ; all persons wandering 
abroad and begging, or who go about from door to door, or 
place themselves in the streets, highways, passages or other 
public places to beg or receive alms within the said city, shall 
be deemed vagrants. 

Laws 1833, ch. 11. 


§ 2. It shall be the duty of every constable or other peace 
officer, whenever required by any person, to carry, convey or 
conduct such vagrant before the mayor, recorder or one of the 
aldermen or special justices of the said city, for the purpose of 
•examination. 

Laws 1833, ch. 11. 


§ 3. If such magistrate be satisfied by the confession of the 
offender, or competent testimony, that such person is a vagrant 
within the description aforesaid, he shall make up and sign a 
record of conviction thereof, which shall be filed in the office 
of the clerk of the Court of Sessions; and shall, by warrant, 
under his hand, commit such vagrant, if not a notorious offend¬ 
er, and be a proper object for such relief, to the alms-liouse of 
the said city for anytime not exceeding six months, there to be 
kept at hard labor ; or if the offender be an improper person 
to be sent to the alms-house, then such person shall be com¬ 
mitted for the like time to the penitentiary of said city. 

Laws 1833, ch. 11. 


§ 7. All persons who may' have actually abandoned their 
wives or children, in the city of New York, without adequate 
support, or in danger of becoming a burden upon the public, or 
who may neglect to provide, according to their means, for their 
wives or children, are hereby declared to be disorderly persons, 
within the meaning of title fifth of chapter twentieth of part 





143 


first of the Revised Statutes, and may be proceeded against, as 
such, ih the manner directed by the said title. And it shall be 
the duty of the magistrate, before whom any such person may 
be brought for examination, to judge and determine from the 
facts and circumstances of the case, whether the conduct of 
anperson amounts to such desertion or neglect to provide 
for his wife or children. 

Laws 1833, ch. 11. 


§ 18. If any child shall be found in a state of want and suf¬ 
fering, or being abandoned or improperly exposed or neglected 
by their parents, or such other person as may have them in 
charge, or soliciting charity from door to door, or in any street, 
highway, or public place within said city, the mayor and re¬ 
corder, or any tw r o aldermen, or two special justices, of said 
city shall, on complaint, and competent proof thereof, commit 
•such child to the alms-house, or to such other suitable place 
as the common council may from time to time establish or des¬ 
ignate ; there to be detained, kept, educated, employed, and 
instructed, in such proper manner, and at such suitable labor as 
such children may be able to perform, and as will have a tend¬ 
ency to fit them to become useful citizens, until discharged 
therefrom by due course of law, or by the commissioners of 
the alms-house of said city, or until bound out by said com¬ 
missioners ; and the aforesaid provisions shall extend to the 
children of all such persons as may be convicted of being 
common prostitutes or'keepers of bawdy, houses or houses for 
the resort of common prostitutes. 

Laws 1833, ch. 11. 


§ 20. It shall be lawful for the mayor, aldermen and com¬ 
monalty of the city of New r York, in common council convened, 
to pass such ordinances as they may deem necessary, for the 
regulating and licensing of keepers of ordinaries, or vitualling 
houses ; or where fruit, oysters, clams, liquors or meats shall 




144 


be sold; and for (he more effectual suppression of vice and 
immorality, and the preserving of peace and good order in said 
city; and for the licensing and otherwise regulating the use 
and employment of dirt carts, and to prevent or regulate the 
firing of any fire-arms, or the firing or setting off any squibs, 
gunpowder, rockets or fireworks in said city. 

Laws 1833, ch. 11. 


§ 21. And all persons offending against such ordinances shall 
be deemed guilty of misdemeanor, and be punished, on convic¬ 
tion before any of the magistrates described in the second sec¬ 
tion of this act, by a fine not exceeding ten dollars, or, in de¬ 
fault of the payment of such fine, by imprisonment, provided 
such imprisonment does not exceed ten days. 

Laws 1833, ch. 11. 


Special Provisions for Kings County. 

§ 14. All persons who shall abandon or threaten to run 
away and leave their wives and children, or either of them, 
without adequate support, a burden on the public, against 
whom a warrant shall be issued upon a complaint made upon 
oath to any justice of the peace or police justice in the county 
of Kings, shall be brought before the justice of the peace or 
police justice who issued said warrant, and if it shall appear 
by the confession of the offender or by competent testimony, 
that the person so charged is guilty, the justice of the peace or 
police justice, before whom the said offender is brought, shall 
make an order in which he shall specify the sum of money to 
be paid weekly by said person for the support of the wife or 
children, or either. 

2 Revised Statutes, p. 895, § 14; Laws 1871, ch. 395. 


§ 15. Such person shall, upon notice of such order, immedi¬ 
ately pay the sum of money certified for the costs of apprehend- 





145 


ing him, and shall enter into a bond to the people of the State 
in such sum as such justice of the peace or police justice shall 
direct, with good and sufficient surety, to be approved by the 
said justice of the peace or police justice, for his or her good 
behavior for the space of one year, and that such person will 
pay, weekly, such sum for the support of his wife or children, 
or either, as has been ordered as aforesaid, to the superintend¬ 
ents of the poor of the county of Kings. In default of such 
sureties being found, the justice shall make up, sign and file in 
the county clerk’s office of the county of Kings, a record of the 
conviction of such offender as a disorderly person, specifying 
generally the nature and circumstances of the offense, and 
shall, by warrant, commit such offender to the common jail of 
said county, there to remain until such surety be found, or 
such offender be discharged according to law; and upon the 
trial or hearing of all complaints for any or either of the 
offenses herein above referred to in said county, the wife shall 
be a competent witness therein against her husband as to all 
matters embraced in said complaint, but no conviction shall be 
had upon her testimony uncorroborated by other testimony. 

2 Revised Statutes, p. 895, § 15; Laws 1871, cli. 895. 


Special Provisions for Female Drunkards, Vagrants and 
Prostitutes in Erie County. 

§ 23. Whenever any prostitute, female vagrant or habitual 
drunkard in the county of Erie, between the ages of fourteen 
and thirty years, shall be arrested and brought before the 
police justice of the city of Buffalo, or any of the justices of the 
peace in the city of Buffalo, and shall profess a desire to 
reform, such police justice or justice of the peace, may, in his 
discretion, make an order, committing such female to the care, 
custody and instruction of the managers of the asylum of Our 
Lady of Refuge, or the Ingleside Home of the city of Buffalo, 
for such period of time as may be authorized by law for the 
punishment of such prostitute, vagrant and habitual drunkard ; 
but no person shall be committed to the said the asylum of 
10 



146 


Our Lady of Refuge, or Ingelside Home without the written 
consent of such person ; and such committing magistrate shall 
forthwith make and file a copy of such commitment in the 
clerk’s office of Erie county; it shall also be the duty of the 
county clerk of said county to make a report of such commit¬ 
ments filed in his office during the preceding year, to the board 
of supervisors of said county at their annual meeting. 

2 Revised Statutes, p. 896, § 23; Laws 1875, cli. 552. 


§ 24. Whenever any person committed as aforesaid, shall 
become disorderly, disobedient or ungovernable, the said man¬ 
agers are hereby authorized to return such person to the com¬ 
mitting magistrate or police justice, to be disposed of by due A 
course of law. 

2 Revised Statutes, p. 897, § 24; Laws 1875, ch. 552. 


Special Provisions for Persons Abandoning their Wives 
and Children, in Rensselear County, as Disorderly 
Persons. 

§•4. All persons who shall abandon their wives or children 
without adequate means of support, or who shall neglect or re¬ 
fuse to support them according to their ability, shall be deemed 
disorderly persons within the meaning of the Revised Statutes, 
and for the purposes of trial and punishment, as prescribed in 
the above section ( 1 ). 

3 Revised Statutes, p. 1057, § 4 ; Laws 1855, ch. 290. 

(‘) The section referred to authorizes any justice of the peace of Rensselear 
county to punish the offender by fine not exceeding fifty dollars, or by imprison¬ 
ment in the county jail of said county, at hard labor, for a term not exceeding six 
months, or by both such fine and imprisonment. 


§ 5. When any person, charged with any offense as specified 
above, shall be brought before such justice, it shall be his duty 
forthwith to hear, try and determine such complaint or prose- 





147 


cution according to the provisions of said article first, title third, 
-chapter second of the fourth part of the Revised Statutes, 
whether the person charged with such offense requests to be 
tried or not; and before entering upon such trial, such justice 
may, in his discretion, adjourn the hearing or trial thereof from 
time to time, for the purpose of procuring material testimony, 
either on the part of the people or the accused, for a period not 
exceeding twenty days; and such justice may commit the accused 
to jail until such adjourned day, or suffer such accused to go at 
large upon his or her executing to the people of the State of 
New York, and filing with such justice a bond, with sureties to 
be approved by him, in a penalty not exceeding one hundred 
dollars, conditioned for the personal appearance of said accused 
before such justice on the day to which such hearing or trial 
shall be adjourned, and that he or she will not depart therefrom 
without the leave of the court. 

3 Revised Statutes, p. 1057, § 5; Laws 1855, ch. 290. 


§ 6. Every bond so given, which shall be forfeited, shall be 
■delivered by said justice to an overseer of the poor of the 
town where the proceedings are had, and such overseer shall, 
and he is hereby authorized to, prosecute and collect the same 
officially for the benefit of the poor of such town. 

3 Revised Statutes, 1057, § 6; Laws 1855, ch. 290. 



PART V. 


Institutions for the Care and 
Protection of Children, their 
Eights, Powers and Duties. 

Societies for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children; 


§ 1. Any five or more persons of full age, a majority of whom 
shall be citizens of, and residents within, this State, who shall 
desire to associate themselves together for the purpose of pre¬ 
venting cruelty to children, may make, sign and acknowl¬ 
edge, before any person authorized to take the acknowledg¬ 
ment of deeds in this State, and file in the office of the secre¬ 
tary of state, and also in the office of the clerk of the county in 
which the business of the society is to be conducted, a certifi¬ 
cate in writing, in which shall be stated the name or title by 
which such society shall be known in law, the particular busi¬ 
ness and objects of such society, the number of trustees, direc¬ 
tors or managers to manage the same, and the names of the 
trustees, directors or managers of the society, for the first year 
of its existence ; but such certificate shall not be filed, unless 
the written consent and approbation of one of the justices of 
the Supreme Court of the district in which the place of busi¬ 
ness or principal office of such society shall be located, be in¬ 
dorsed on such certificate (*). 

2 Revised Statutes, p 787, § 1; Laws 1875, ch. 130. 





149 


V) The following are societies organized under the above Act: 

The New York Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children, organized 
April 27th, 1875; John D. Wright, president; William L. Jenkins, treasurer; 
‘Lewis L. Delafield, Counsel; E. Fellows Jenkins, secretary. 


The Rochester Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children; organized 
'October 6th, 1875; Mrs. Isaac Hills, president; W. H. Cheney, treasurer; N. M. 
Mann, secretary. 


The Newburgh Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children ; Organized 
November 4th, 1875; lion. J. J. Monell, President; Henry Dudley, vice-president; 
R. R. Skeel, treasurer; Peter Edgar, M. D., secretary. 


The Buffalo Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children; organized 
April 28th, 1876; W. L. Darbee, president; Wm. S. Hamilton, vice-president; 
‘Charles Stewart, treasurer; U. S. Johnson, secretary. 


The following societies for the prevention of cruelty to children have been or¬ 
ganized in other States: 

The California Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children; organized 
August 30th, 1876 ; San Franciseo, California. This society was organized under 
an Act passed in January, 1876, similar to chap. 130, of Laws of 1875, in New 
York, It conducts its proceedings under an ordinance of the Board of Supervisors 
.in the county of Alameda. 


Cleveland Humane Society, Cleveland, Ohio. F. B. Hurlberl, president; John 
Ford, vice-president; John L. Hays, treasurer; H. F. Brayton, secretary. This 
society was formerly the Cleveland Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Ani¬ 
mals. After the passage of the Act of April 11th, 1878, it changed its name and 
mow protects children as well as animals. 


The Pennsylvania Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children : Phil¬ 
adelphia, Pa. Is now in process of organization; first meeting held September 
■21st, 1876. 


The New Hampshire Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children ; Rev. 
H. C. Holbrook, president; Miss Susie E. Christie, secretary; Dr. James R. May, 
.treasurer. 









150 


§ 2. Upon filing the certificate, as aforesaid, the persons who 
shall have signed and acknowledged such certificate, and their 
associates and successors, shall thereupon by virtue of this Act,, 
be a body politic and corporate, by the name stated in such 
certificate, and as such shall have power— 

1. To have perpetual succession by its corporate name. 

2. To sue and be sued, complain and defend, in any court of 
law or equity. 

3. To make and use a common seal, which may be affixed by 
making an impression directly on the paper, and alter the same 
at pleasure. 

4. To appoint such officers, managers and agents as the busi¬ 
ness of the corporation may require. 

5. To make by-laws not inconsistent with the laws of this: 
State, or of the United States, for the management of its prop¬ 
erty and the regulation of its affairs. 

6. To contract and be contracted with. 

7. To take and hold by gift, purchase, grant, devise or be¬ 
quest any property, real or personal, and the same to dispose 
of at pleasure. But such corporation shall not, in its corporate 
capacity, hold real estate, the yearly income derived from 
which shall exceed the sum of fifty thousand dollars. 

8. To exercise any corporate powers necessary to the exer¬ 
cise of the powers above enumerated and given. 

2 Revised Statutes, p. 787, § 2; Laws 1875, ch. 130. 


§ 3. Any society so incorporated may prefer a complaint 
before any court or magistrate having jurisdiction for the viola¬ 
tion of amy law relating to or affecting children, and may aid 
in bringing the facts before such court or magistrate in any 
proceeding taken. 

2 Revised Statutes, p. 788, § 3; Laws 1875, ch. 130. 


§ 4. All magistrates, constables, sheriffs and officers of police* 
shall, as occasion may require, aid the society so incorporated. 




151 


its officers, members and agents, in the enforcement of all laws 
which now are or may hereafter be enacted, relating to or 
affecting children. 

2 Revised Statutes, p. 788, § 4; Laws 1875, ch. 180. 


§ 5. The provisions of this act shall not extend or apply to 
any association or individuals who shall, in the certificate filed 
as hereinabove provided, use or specify a name or style the 
same or substantially the same as that of any previously ex¬ 
isting incorporated society in this State. 

2 Revised Statutes, p. 788, § 5; Laws 1875, ch. 130. 


An Act for the Incorporation of Benevolent, Charitable, 
Scientific and Missionary Societies. 

§ 1. Any five or more persons of full age, a majority of whom 
shall be citizens of and residents within the State, who shall 
desire to associate themselves together for benevolent, cha¬ 
ritable, literary, scientific, missionary, or mission or other 
Sunday school purposes, or for the purpose of mutual im¬ 
provement in religious knowledge, or the furtherance of reli¬ 
gious opinion, or for any two or more of such objects combined, 
may make, sign and acknowledge, before any person authorized 
to take the acknowledgment of deeds in this State, and file in 
the office of the clerk of the county in which the business of 
such society is to be conducted certificates in writing, in which 
shall be stated the name or title by which such society shall be 
known in law, the particular business and objects of such 
society, the number of trustees, directors or managers to man¬ 
age the same, and the names of the trustees, directors or 
managers of such society for the first year of its existence ; 
but such certificate shall not be filed, unless by the written 
consent and approbation of one of the justices of the Supreme 




152 



Court of the district in which the place of business or principal 
office of such society shall be located, to be endorsed on such 
certificate ( x ). 

2 Revised Statutes, p. 439, § 1; Laws 1848, chap. 319, § 1, 
as amended Laws 1872, ch. 649, § 1. 


(i) Societies cannot be formed under this act for the purposes of profit and busi 


ness. 


People v. Nelson, 46 N. Y. R., 477. 

“ “11 Abb. IV. R., N. S., § 106. 

« “ 10 “ “ “ 200 . 

“ “ 3 Lans. R., 394. 

“ “ 60 Barb. R., 159. 


Members cannot be expelled without notice. 

People v. St. Franciscus, <fcc., 24 How. Pr. R., 216. 

Unreasonable By-laws are void. 

Cartan v. Father Matthew, &c., 3 Daly R., 20. 

No trustee or director of any charitable or benevolent institution, organized 
under the general law or special charter, shall receive, directly or indirectly, from 
the institution, any salary or compensation, or emolument whatever, for his ser¬ 
vices in any capacity. 

Laws 1872, cli. 104. 


§ 2. Upon filing a certificate, as aforesaid, the persons who shall 
have signed and acknowdedged such certificate, and their asso¬ 
ciates and successors, shall thereupon, by virtue of this act, be 
a body politic and corporate, by the name stated in such cer¬ 
tificate, and by that name they and their successors shall and 
may have succession, and shall be persons in law capable of 
'Suing and being sued, and they and their successors may have 
and use a common seal, and the same may alter and change at 
pleasure; and they and their successors, by their corporate 
name shall in law be capable of taking, receiving, purchasing, 
and holding real estate for the purposes of their incorporation! 
and for no other purpose, to an amount not exceeding the sum 
of one hundred and fifty thousand dollars in value, and per¬ 
sonal estate, for like purposes, to an amount not exceeding the 
sum of one hundred and fifty thousand dollars in value ; but 
the clear annual income of such real and personal estate shall 
not exceed the sum of thirty thousand dollars; to make by- 



153 


laws for the management of its affairs, not inconsistent with 
the constitution and laws of this State or of the United States; 
to elect and appoint the officers and agents of such society, for 
the management of its business, and to allow them a suitable 
compensation. 

2 Revised Statutes, p. 440, § 2; Laws 1848, ch. 819, § 2, 
as amended, 1872, ch. 649, § 2. 


§ 6. Any corporation formed under this act shall be capable 
of taking, holding, or receiving any property, real or personal, 
by virtue of any devise or bequest contained in any last will 
or testament of any person whatsoever, the clear annual in¬ 
come of which devise or bequest shall not exceed the sum of 
ten thousand dollars. 

Provided , no person leaving a wife, or child, or parent, shall 
devise or beqipeath to such institution or corporation more than 
one-fourth of his or her estate after the payment of his or her 
debts, and such devise or bequest shall be valid to the extent 
of such one-fourth, and no such devise or bequest shall be 
valid in any will which shall not have been made and executed 
:at least two months before the death of the testator. 

2 Revised Statutes, p. 440, § 6; Laws 1848, ch. 319, § 6. 


Duties and Powers of Institutions as to Minors Entrusted 

TO THEM. 

§ 23. All institutions, public or private, incorporated or not 
incorporated, for the reception of minors, whether as orphans 
or as destitute, disorderly or delinquent persons, are hereby 
required to keep a record, wherein shall be entered the date of 
reception, how and by whom therein placed, and for what cause, 
together with the names, residence and birthplace of all chil¬ 
dren admitted in such institutions; and also the names, resi¬ 
dence and birthplace of the parents of such children ; and 
whenever any child shall leave such institution, the proper en- 




154 


try shall be made in such record showing in what manner such 
child has been disposed of, to whom apprenticed or otherwise 
intrusted, and wdiere he resides (*). 

3 Revised Statutes, 176, § 23 ; Laws 1869, cli. 411. 

(i) Unless authorized by the by-laws the governor of an asylum lias no right to 
expel an inmate without authority of the trustees. 

People v. Sailors’ Snug Harbor; 5 Abb. Pr. R., N. S., 119;. 

54 Barb. R., 532. 

A voluntary patient cannot be kept by force. 

Matter of Baker, 29 How. P. R., 485. 

See ante, pp. 85, 86, 33 and 132, and 133. 

See ante, p. 89, § 95. 


§ 24. Such record shall, at all reasonable times, be open to* 
the inspection of any citizen of this State, and extracts there¬ 
from shall, within twenty-four hours after request, be given by 
the secretary or other officer of such institution, to any parent 
or relative of such child. 

3 Revised Statutes, 176, § 24; Laws 1869, ch. 411. 


§ 25. It shall not be lawful at any time to change the name- 
of any child admitted to such institution. 

3 Revised Statutes, 176, § 25; Laws 1869, ch. 411. 


§ 26. Whenever any such child shall be bound out, appren¬ 
ticed, or otherwise disposed of, the person or persons receiving 
him shall be required to sign an obligation to the people of 
this State, by which, in addition to the requirements now ex¬ 
isting by law in such cases, such person or persons shall under¬ 
take to kindly treat such child. 

3 Revised Statutes, 176, § 26; Laws 1869, ch. 411. 






155 


§ 27. It shall be the duty of all such institutions to present to 
the Legislature, annually, on or before the thirty-first day of 
January, a report under the oath of some one of its principal 
officers, showing that the provisions of this act have been 
complied with. 

3 Revised Statutes, 176, § 27; Laws 1869, ch. 411. 


§ 28. Any officer of any institution referred to in this act,, 
who shall willfully violate any of the provisions of this act, shall 
be liable to a penalty of one hundred dollars, to be recovered 
by the attorney-general in the name of the people of this State 
in any court of competent jurisdiction. 

3 Revised Statutes, 176, § 28; Laws 1869, ch. 411. 


Officers of any Incorporated Institution for Children may 
Bind them Out. 

§ 29. The trustees, directors or managers of any incorporated 
orphan asylum or institute, or home for indigent children, may 
bind out any orphan or indigent child, if a male, under the age- 
of twenty-one years, or if a female, under the age of eighteen 
years, who has been or shall be surrendered to the care or 
custody of said society, by the parent or guardian thereof, or 
placed therein by the superintendent of the poor of the 
county, or overseers of the poor of any city or town in the 
county within which said asylum or institute is located, to be 
clerks, apprentices or servants, until such child, if a male, shall 
be twenty-one years old, or if a female, shall be eighteen years 
old, which binding shall be as effectual as if such child had 
bound himself or herself with the consent of his or her father ( 1 ). 

3 Revised Statutes, 176, § 29; Laws 1855, ch. 159, as amended. 

1870, ch. 431. 

(’) Matter of Barre, 14 Abb. Pr. R., N. S., 426. 

People v. Hoster, 14 Abb. Pr. R., N. S. 414. 

People v. Juvenile Asylum, 2 Sup. C. R. (T. C.), 475. 

People v. Weissenbach, 60 N. Y. R., 385. 




156 


§ 30. In case of the death of the father of any indigent child, 
Or in case the father shall have abandoned his family or 
neglected to provide for them, the mother shall be the guardian 
of said child for the purpose of surrendering the said child to 
the care and custody of said society; and in case of the death 
of both parents, the mayor of the city or the supervisor of the 
town within which the said asylum or institute may be located, 
shall be, ex-officio, the guardian of said child for the purpose of 
enabling said trustees, managers or directors to bind out such 
child. 


3 Revised Statutes, 176, § 30; Laws 1855, ch. 159, as amended 
Laws 1870, ch. 431. 


§ 31. The father of any indigent child, or in case the father 
shall be dead, or shall have abandoned his family, or neglected 
to provide for them, the mother may, by a written instrument, 
commit the guardianship of the person and custody of said 
child to the directors, trustees or managers of an}’’ incorporated 
orphan asylum or institute, upon such terms, for such time, 
and subject to such conditions, as may be agreed upon by the 
parties; and, in case of the death of both parents, the guardian 
of said child, legally appointed, may, with the approval of the 
court or officer appointing him, to be entered of record, commit 
to such asylum the guardianship of the person and custody of 
said child, in the same manner and upon the same terms that 
the parent might, as herein provided. 

3 Revised Statutes, p. 177, § 31; Laws 1855, ch. 159, aa 
amended Lp.ws 1870, ch. 431. 


§ 32. The provisions of sections eight, nine and ten of article 
first, of title fourth, of chapter eight, of part second, of the Re¬ 
vised Statutes, shall apply to all cases of binding under this 
.act. 

3 Revised Statutes, 177, § 32; Laws 1855, ch. 159, as 
amended Laws 1870, ch. 431. 




157 


Certain Societies may Bind out Children. 

§ 33. Every society or association incorporated under the 
laws of this State for the purpose of taking care of and protect¬ 
ing destitute infant minor children, may, with the consent of 
any justice of the Supreme Court, or of the county judge in the 
county wherein such society or association may be situated, 
such consent to be expressed in writing on the indentures, bind 
out any destitute minor child or children, which have been in 
their care and keeping for three months, of the age of eight 
years and upward, by indenture, to serve as clerk, apprentice 
or servant in any profession, trade or employment; if a male,, 
for a period which shall not be beyond his twenty-first year, 
and if a female, for a period which shall not be beyond her 
eighteenth year. 

3 Revised Statutes, 177, § 33 ; Laws 1875, ch. 522. 


§ 34. Such indenture shall be executed under seal, and 
signed by such officer of such society or association as shall be 
authorized by the directors or trustees of such society or asso¬ 
ciation to sign such indenture, and shall be signed also by the 
person employing such apprentice or minor child. 

3 Revised Statutes, 177, § 34; Law3 1875, ch. 522 


§ 35. The age of every infant so bound and the sum of 
money paid or agreed for, with, or in relation to the binding 
out of such minor child, shall be inserted in the indenture, and 
such age shall be taken prima facie to be the true age without 
further proof thereof. 

3 Revised Statutes, 177, § 35; Laws 1875, ch. 522. 

§ 36. The indenture shall contain an agreement on the part 
of the person to whom such child shall be bound, that he will 
cause such child to be instructed to read and write; and if a 
male, shall cause him to be instructed in the general rules of 




158 


arithmetic, and shall contain such other provisions for the bene¬ 
fit of such infant as shall be deemed proper by any of the 
officers or trustees of said society or association, and which 
shall be agreed to by such person receiving such infant. 

3 Revised Statutes, 177, § 36; Laws 1875, cli. 522. 


§ 37. Should such employer fail at any time to provide suit¬ 
able and proper board, lodging and medical attendance, or 
shall fail to perform any of the provisions of said indenture on 
his part, said apprentice, individually, or any person on his 
behalf, may bring an action against said employer to recover 
damages sustained by reason of such failure ; and if proved to 
the satisfaction of the court, and the court shall deem it a 
proper case, the court shall direct said indentures to be can¬ 
celled, and may impose a judgment upon such employer not 
exceeding one thousand dollars and not less than one hundred 
dollars, and said judgment shall be collected and paid over to 
said society or association, which formerly had the custody of 
such child, to be used for the benefit of such minor, in such 
manner as the trustees thereof shall direct. 

3 Revised Statutes, 177, § 37; Laws 1875, ch. 522. 


Disqualification to Yote and Testify Inapplicable to Crim¬ 
inals in Reformatories. 

§ 3. a No person shall be permitted to vote at any election 
who previous thereto shall have been convicted of bribery, or 
of any infamous crime, unless he shall have been pardoned and 
restored to all the rights of a citizen, or who shall make any 
bet or wager, or be directly or indirectly interested in any bet 
or wager depending upon the result of any election at which 
such person may offer to vote. 

1 Revised Statutes, 427, § 3 a ; Laws 1847, ch. 240. 


\ 




159 


§ 43. No person sentenced upon a conviction for felony shall 
4>e competent to testify in any cause, matter or proceeding, civil 
or criminal, unless he be pardoned by the governor or by the Leg¬ 
islature, except in the cases specially provided by law; but no 
sentence upon a conviction for any offense other than a felony 
shall disqualify or render any person incompetent to be sworn, 
or to testify in any cause, matter , or proceeding, civil or crim¬ 
inal. 

3 Revised Statutes, 994, § 43. 


§ 44. The disqualification to testify created by section twen¬ 
ty-three (original number) of title seven, chapter first of part 
fourth of the Revised Statutes, and the prohibition to vote at 
any election contained in section fifteen of chapter two hundred 
and forty of the laws of eighteen hundred and forty-seven, 
shall not apply to a person heretofore convicted, or hereafter 
to be convicted of felony, or of any infamous crime, and in 
consequence thereof ^committed to one of the houses of refuge, 
or other reformatories organized under the laws of this 
State ( 1 ). 

1 Revised Statutes, 427, § 3 a f 1 ] ; 3 Revised Statutes, 994, 
§44; Laws, 1872, ch. 113. 

( J ) Act passed in consequence of the decision in People agt, Park, 41 N. Y. R., 
21 ; People agt. Park, 1 Lansing, j263. 


State Board of Charities. 

Office, 11 High Street, Albany. 

This board was organized under the Act of 1867, chap. 951 
(2 Revised Statutes, 446). 

Under the authority conferred by this act, the governor ap¬ 
pointed eight commissioners, whose duties and powers are de¬ 
clared by §§ 4, 5 and 6 of the act. These duties are briefly as 
follows : To visit all tlie charitable and correctional institutions 
of the State, excepting prisons, receiving State aid; to inquire 
into their methods of instruction; the government and man- 




160 


agement of their inmates; the conduct of their officers; the* 
condition of their buildings; whether the moneys appropriated 
have been judiciously expended; the objects of the several 
institutions accomplished, and the laws relating to them com¬ 
plied with, and to report annually to the Legislature, with such 
recommendations as they deem proper. 

Other powers were conferred upon the commissioners by 
chap. 713, Laws 1871, (2 Revised Statutes 451, § 27,) in relation 
to chronic pauper insane : by chap. 699, Laws 1871, in relation 
to taking testimony; by chap. 571, Laws 1873, (2 Revised Stat¬ 
utes 446, et seq.) ; in relation to their powers of visitation; re¬ 
ports ; licenses for keeping insane asylums: a commission of 
lunacy and other matters; by concurrent resolutions passed 
May 29, 1873, in relation to the increase of crime, &c. 

The principal act now in force is as follows: 

An Act to Provide for the Support and Care of State 
Paupers. 

§ 32. Every poor person who is blind, lame, old, impotent, 
or decrepit, or in any other way disabled or enfeebled, so as to 
be unable by work to maintain himself, who shall apply for aid 
to any superintendent or overseer of the poor, or other officer 
charged with the support and relief of indigent persons, and 
who shall not have resided sixty days in any county of this 
State within one year preceding the time of such application,, 
shall be deemed to be a State pauper, and shall be maintained 
as hereinafter provided ( 1 ). 

2 Revised Statutes, p. 452, § 32; Laws 1873, ch. 661. 

(>) Temporary relief is limited to $10, Gere v. Supervisors, 7 How. Pr. R., 255.. 


§ 33. The State Board of Charities is hereby authorized, from 
time to time, on behalf of the State, to contract, for such time, 
and on such terms as it may deem proper, with the authorities 
of not more than fifteen counties or cities of this State, for 
the reception and support, in the poor-houses or other suitable 
buildings of such counties or cities respectively, of such pau¬ 
pers as may be committed to such poor-houses as provided by 



161 


this act. The said board may establish rules and regulations 
for the discipline, employment, treatment and care of such 
paupers, and for their discharge. Every such contract shall be in 
writing, and be filed in the office of the said board. The poor- 
houses or other buildings so contracted for with the authorities 
of any county or city, while used for the purposes herein men¬ 
tioned, shall be appropriately designated by the said board, 
and shall be known as State alms-houses. The said board may 
from time to time direct the transfer of any such paupers from 
one alms-house to another, and may give notice from time to 
time to counties to which alms-houses they shall send paupers. 

2 Revised Statutes, 452, § 33; L.aws 1873, ch. 661, as amend¬ 
ed Laws, 1874, ch. 464. 


§ 34. The said board shall give notice to the county clerks of 
the several counties of this State, of the location of each of such 
alms-houses, who thereupon shall cause such notice to be duly 
promulgated to the superintendents and overseers of the poor, 
and other officers charged with the support and relief of in¬ 
digent persons in their respective counties. A circular from 
the secretary of said board shall accompany such notice to 
each county clerk, giving all necessary information respecting 
the commitment, support and care of State paupers in such 
alms-houses, according to the provisions of this act. 

2 Revised Statutes, 453, § 34; Laws, 1873, ch. 661, § 3. 


§ 35. The county judge and justices of the peace of the 
several counties of this State, and all police justices and county 
superintendents of the poor, on satisfactory proof being made 
that the person so applying for relief is a State pauper, as de¬ 
fined by the first section of this act, shall by warrant cause 
such person to be removed or conveyed to the nearest State 
alms-house, and such pauper shall be maintained therein until 
duly discharged. All testimony taken in any such proceeding, 
shall be forwarded by mail, within five days thereafter to the 
11 



162 


secretary of tlie Sate Board of Charities. A verified state¬ 
ment of the expenses incurred by the person in making such 
removal shall be sent to the said secretary. And the State 
Board of Charities shall examine and audit the same, and al¬ 
low such expenses as have been actually and necessarily incur¬ 
red in making such removal, provided that no allowance shall 
be made to any person for their time or service in making such 
removal. All such accounts for expenses in making such re¬ 
movals shall be paid by the State treasurer on the warrant of 
the comptroller, to the person incurring the same ; but no such 
account shall be paid until it shall be certified and allowed by 
the State Board of Charities. 

2 Revised Statutes, 452, § 35; Laws 1873, ch. 661, § 4, as 
amended Laws, 1875, ch. 308. 


§ 36. The expenses for the support, treatment and care of 
all persons who shall be sent as State paupers to such alms¬ 
houses, shall be paid quarterly on the first days of January, 
April, July and October, in each year, to the treasurer of the 
county, or proper city officer incurring the same, by the treas¬ 
urer of the State, on the warrant of the comptroller, but no 
such expenses shall be paid to any county or city until an ac¬ 
count of the number of persons thus supported, and the time 
that each shall have been respectively maintained, shall have 
been rendered in due form, and approved by the State Board 
•of Charities. 

2 Revised Statutes, 453, § 36 ; Laws 1873, ch. 661, § 5. 


§ 37. The keeper or principal officer in charge of each and 
all such alms-houses shall enter the names of all persons re¬ 
ceived by them under the provisions of this act, with such par¬ 
ticulars in reference to each, as the said board, from time to 
time, may prescribe, together with the names of the officer 
making the complaint, and the judge or justice by whom the 
commitment was made, in a book to be kept for that purpose. 



163 


Within three days after the admission of any such person, such 
keeper or principal officer shall transmit by mail the name of 
such person with the particulars hereinbefore mentioned, to the 
secretary of said board ; and notice of the death, discharge 
or absconding of any such person, shall in like manner, and 
within the time above named, be thus sent to said secretary. 
'The secretary of said board shall cause the names of the pau¬ 
pers in each of said alms-houses, furnished as above provided 
for, to be entered in a book to be kept for that purpose in the 
office of said board, and he shall verify the correctness thereof, 
by comparison with the books kept in such alms-houses as 
aforesaid, and by personal examination of the several inmates 
thereof, and in any other manner the board, from time to time, 
may direct; and he shall furnish the said board, in tabulated 
statements, on or before the second Tuesday in January, an¬ 
nually, the number of inmates maintained in each and all of 
such alms-houses, during the preceding year, the number dis¬ 
charged, transferred to other institutions, bound out or removed 
from the State, and the number who died or left without per¬ 
mission during the year, with such other particulars and infor¬ 
mation, as the board may require. 

2 Revised Statutes, p. 453, § 37; Laws 1873, ch. 661. 


§ 38. In addition to the visitation of the secretary of said 
board, as hereinafter provided for, the said board shall cause 
each of such alms-houses to be visited, periodically, by some 
member or members of such board, who shall examine into the 
condition and management of said alms-houses, respectively, 
and make such report thereof to the said board as may be 
deemed proper. 

2 Revised Statutes, p. 454, § 38; Laws 1873, ch. 661. 


§ 39. It shall be the duty of the secretary of said board 
to visit and inspect each and all of the said alms-houses at least 
■once in every three months, and as much oftener as in his judg- 




164 


merit it may be expedient, or the board may direct. For the- 
purposes of such inspection the said secretary shall possess all 
the powers of a member of the said board, and also such fur¬ 
ther powers as are hereinafter mentioned. It shall be the duty 
of the officer in charge of each and every such alms-house to 
give to the said secretary free access to all parts of the grounds, 
buildings, hospital, and other arrangements connected there¬ 
with, and to every inmate thereof, and to extend to him the 
same facilities for the inspection of such alms-house and its 
inmates as is required by law to be extended to said board and 
commissioners; and in default thereof he shall be subject to the 
same penalty as if access were denied to any member of said 
board. 

2 Revised Statutes, p. 454, § 39; Laws 1873, ch. 661. 


§ 40. If any inmate of any such alms-house, when admitted,, 
is insane, or thereafter becomes insane or of unsound mind, and 
the accommodations in said alms-house, in the opinion of said 
secretary, are not adequate and proper for his treatment and 
care, the said secretary may cause his removal to the appropri¬ 
ate State asylum for insane, and he shall be received by the 
officer in charge of such asylum and be maintained therein un¬ 
til duly discharged. The expenses for the support, treatment 
and care of insane persons or persons of unsound mind, so re¬ 
ceived in any State asylum, shall be paid to the treasurer 
thereof by the treasurer of the State, on the warrant of the 
comptroller, upon the account being duly rendered and certi¬ 
fied to by the secretary of said board ; provided, however, that 
such expenses shall not exceed those charged to the counties,, 
cities or towns for the support, treatment and care of insane- 
persons or persons of unsound mind in such asylum ( 1 ). 

2 Revised Statutes, p. 454, § 40; Laws 1873, ch. 661. 

(') Pomeroy v. Wells, 8 Paige’s Chy. R., 406. 


§ 41. When any child under ten years of age shall be com¬ 
mitted to any such alms-house, the said secretary, in his dis- 




165 


''Cretion, may cause the transfer of such child to such orphan 
asylum in this State as lie may deem proper. The expenses 
for the maintenance and care of such child thereafter, and until 
otherwise provided for, shall be paid out of the State treasury 
on the certificate of said secretary, in the same manner as pro¬ 
vided in the preceding section as to the maintenance and care 
of insane persons or persons of unsound mind ; provided, that 
such expenses shall not exceed the cost of maintenance of such 
child in said alms-house. The said secretary, also, in his dis¬ 
cretion, may bind out any orphan or indigent child which may 
be committed to any such alms-house, or may be placed in any 
orphan asylum, as aforesaid, if a male child under twenty-one 
years, or if a female under the age of eighteen, to be clerks, 
apprentices or servants until such child, if a male, be twenty- 
one years old, or if a female, shall be eighteen years old, which 
binding shall be as effectual as if such child had bound himself 
with the consent of his father or other legal guardian. 

2 Revised Statutes, p. 454,•§ 41 ; Laws 1873, cli. 661. 


§ 42. Any person becoming an inmate of any such alms¬ 
house, and expressing a preference to be sent to any State or 
-country where said pauper may have a legal settlement or friends 
willing to support or to aid in supporting him, the secretary of 
-said board may cause the removal of such pauper to such State 
or counrty ; provided, in the judgment of said secretary, the in¬ 
terest of the State and the welfare of the pauper will be pro¬ 
moted thereby; and the said secretary shall report, from time 
to time, to said board the names of all persons removed under 
dhe provisions of this act, the places whence removed and the 
<jost of the several removals. 

2 Revised Statutes, p. 455, § 42; Laws 1873, ch. 661. 


§ 43. The said secretary of the said State Board of Charities, 
before entering upon his duties under this act, shall take and 
.subscribe the constitutional oath of office, which shall be filed 




166 


in the office of the Secretary of State. In addition to the* 
powers hereinbefore conferred upon said secretary, he shall 
possess and exercise the like powers, and be subject to the like 
duties as to such State paupers, as superintendents of the poor 
exercise and are subject to in the care and support of county 
paupers. In case of the illness, absence or other inability of 
said secretary, from any cause, to perform his duties, they may 
be temporarily performed and discharged by any other person, 
or persons to be appointed by said board for such purpose. 

2 Revised Statutes, 455, § 43; Laws 1873, ch. 661. 


§ 44. If any inmate of either of said alms-houses shall leave 
the same without being duly discharged, and within one year 
thereafter is found in any city or town of this State soliciting 
public or private aid, he may be punished by confinement in the 
county jail of the county in which so found, for a term not ex¬ 
ceeding three months, or he may be committed for a like term 
to any workhouse of this State, by any court of competent ju¬ 
risdiction, and it shall be the duty of every superintendent and 
overseer of the poor, and other officers charged with the sup¬ 
port and relief of indigent persons, to cause, as far as may be,, 
the provisions of this section to be enforced. 

2 Revised Statutes, 455, § 44; Laws of 1878, ch. 661. 


§ 45. The terms “ alms-house” and “ State alms-house,” as used 
in this act, are to be applied to the county or city poor-houses* 
or other buildings in which State paupers are being maintained* 
as herein provided for ; the words “ superintendent” and! 
“ county superintendent” mean county superintendent of the 
poor, and the words “ overseer ” and “ overseers of the poor* 8 ' 
mean town and city overseers of the poor. 

2 Revised Statutes, 455, § 45; Laws 1873, ch. 66L 




167 


§ 46. The sum of twenty-five thousand dollars, or so much 
thereof as may be necessary, is hereby appropriated to be paid 
for the purposes of this act, out of any moneys in the State 
treasury not otherwise appropriated, for the removal of pau¬ 
pers and their maintenance and care as herein provided for,, 
and for the contingent and miscellaneous expenses attending 
the execution of this act, to be certified and allowed by the 
said State Board of Charities. « 

And also for clerk hire, and the compensation of an assistant 
secretary for said board, to be certified and allowed in like 
manner. The assistant secretary shall discharge such duties 
as the board may designate, and in case of a vacancy in the 
office of secretary of said board, or in his absence or illness, 
the duties of the office of secretary in the meantime may be 
discharged by such assistant secretary. 

2 Revised Statutes, 455, § 46; Laws 1873, ch. 661, as 
amended Laws 1874, eh. 464. 


The State Charities Aid Association. 

Miss E. G. Putnam, Secretary, 

52 East Twentieth Street, New York. 

This society was organized May 11th, 1872 : “ 1st. To pro¬ 
mote an active public interest in the New York State institu¬ 
tions of public charities, with a view to the physical, mental 
and moral improvement of their pauper inmates. 2d. To make 
the present pauper system more efficient, and to bring about 
such reforms in it as may be in accordance with the most en¬ 
lightened views of Christianity, science and philanthropy ” Q). 

Constitution, Art. II. 

(i) This association is not incorporated, and is supported entirely by voluntary 
subscriptions. 

Art. XIII. provides for a standing committee on children. 


168 


Department of Public Charities and Correction. 

§ 1. There is hereby created in the city and county of New 
York, the Department of Public Charities and Correction. 
The chief officers thereof shall be four in number, and shall be 
denominated Commissioners of Public Charities and Correc¬ 
tion ( 1 ). 

Laws of 1860, cli. 610, § 1. 

(!) An order purporting' to be from the board, signed by one commissioner, is 
valid. Otherwise, if there is nothing on its face to show that it was signed by 
order of the board. Exposition of disorderly conduct and persons, commitment 
and habeas corpus. 

Matter of Miller and eleven others, 1 Daly R., 562. 


§ 4. The department hereby created is hereby empowered 
and directed to possess and exercise full and exclusive powers 
for the government, management, maintenance and direction of 
the several institutions and buildings and premises and prop¬ 
erty and appurtenances thereto, which, immediately preceding 
the appointment of the four commissioners aforesaid, were 
under control of the Board of Governors of the Alms-house, 
and especially of the alms-house and work house, of the nurse¬ 
ries for poor and destitute children, and of the county lunatic 
asylum, and of the Potter’s field or other public burial place of 
the poor and strangers in the city and county of New York, 
and especially also of the penitentiary and city prison and 
various prisons and houses of detention in said city, which are 
hereby particularly designated as the institutions of the public 
correction and charities provided for by this act. But the fore¬ 
going shall not relate to the House of Befuge, nor the Juvenile 
Delinquent Asylum, nor the House of Detention of witnesses, 
nor the county or sheriff’s jail. 

Laws of 1860, ch. 510, § 4. 


§ 11. It shall be the duty of the said Board of Commissioners 
to cause to be kept and employed, separate and apart from 




169 


each other, the paupers and criminals, and as far as possible 
to cause the latter to be classified, so that the novice in crime 
may not become contaminated by the evil example of, or by 
association and contact with the more hardened and con¬ 
firmed. 

Laws of 1860, cb. 510, § 11. 


§ 15. It shall be the duty of the officer in charge of the 
nurseries to provide suitable employment for all the children 
under his care, under such regulations and provisions as are 
hereinbefore provided for, in reference to paupers committed 
as aforesaid. 

Laws of I860, ch. 610, § 15. 


§ 18. The said Board of Commissioners, or any one commis¬ 
sioner, shall have power to indenture and bind out, as appren¬ 
tices during their minority, any minor children who may be un¬ 
der their care and control by reasons (*) of the provisions of this 
act, or of any other act of this State, in the forms and with the 
provisions now prescribed by law; and the board, or any com¬ 
missioner, shall have power, in their discretion, to cancel such 
indentures, and they may bind out such children for the employ¬ 
ment of farming or any useful art or trade, to citizens of the 
adjoining States. 

Laws of 1860, cb. 510, § 18. 

P) So in original. 

^ - 

§ 1. The Commissioners of Public Charities and Correction 
of the city of New York are hereby authorized to maintain on 
Hart’s Island, now the property of the city and county of New 
York, an industrial school; and, in connection therewith, are 
authorized to employ and use the labor of any person in any 
of the public institutions committed to their charge ; and the 
said commissioners are hereby authorized to commit to and 
place in said industrial school any of the children who may be 
committed to their care, pursuant to any provisions of law 
heretofore or hereafter made. 

Laws of 1869, cb. 238, § 1. 



170 


§ 2. Hart’s Island shall be deemed to be, and shall be, under 
the control of the said Commissioners of Public Charities and 
Corrections, and may be used by said commissioners for any 
and all purposes deemed by them to be expedient and proper; 
and all laws applicable to the powers and jurisdiction and con¬ 
trol of the said Commissioners of Public Charities and Correc¬ 
tion which are applicable to the other premises, buildings and 
institutions under their charge, shall be deemed to apply to 
said Hart’s Island, and all buildings and erections which may 
for any purpose or purposes, be placed and maintained by said 
commissioners upon said Hart’s Island. 

Laws of 1869, ch. 238, § 1. 


REFORMATORY & CHARITABLE INSTITUTIONS. 


The House of Refuge in New York City. 

An Act to Incorporate the Society for the Reformation of 
Juvenile Delinquents in the city of New r York. 

Passed March 29, 1824. 

Whereas, by the petition of several inhabitants of the city of 
New York, it is represented that they are desirous of estab¬ 
lishing a Society and House of Refuge for the reformation of 
juvenile delinquents, in the said city, and have prayed to be in¬ 
corporated ; therefore, 

I.—Re it enacted by the People of the State of New York, rep¬ 
resented in Senate and Assembly , That all such persons as now 
are or hereafter shall become subscribers to the said associa¬ 
tion pursuant to the by-laws thereof, shall be, and hereby are 
constituted a body corporate and politic, by the name of “ The 
Managers oi the Society for the Reformation of Juvenile De¬ 
linquents in the City of New York,” and by that name they 
shall have perpetual succession, and be in law capable of 
suing and being sued, defending and being defended, in all 




171 


courts and places, and in all manner of actions and causes 
whatsoever, and may havo a common seal, and change the 
same at their pleasure, and shall be capable in law by that 
name and style of purchasing, holding and conve}dng any 
estate, real or personal, for the use of said corporation. 
Provided , that such real estate shall never exceed the yearly 
value of ten thousand dollars, nor be applied to any other pur¬ 
poses than those for which this incorporation is formed. 

Laws of 1824, chap. 126, § 1. 

II .—And be it further enacted ,, That the estate and concerns of 
the said corporation shall be conducted by a board of thirty 
managers, to be elected by a plurality of ballots of the mem¬ 
bers resident in the city of New York, being subscribers as 
aforesaid, and present at such election yearly (*), on the third 
Monday in November, at such place in the said city, and at 
such time of the day as the board of managers may from time 
to time appoint, and of which public notice shall be given ; 
and if any vacancy shall occur by the resignation, removal, or 
otherwise, of any one of the said board, the same shall be filled 
for the remainder of the year by such person or persons, being 
subscribers as aforesaid, as the board for the time being, or a 
major part of them, shall appoint; and until the election on 
the third Monday in November, in the year one thousand 
eight hundred and twenty-five, the following persons shall com¬ 
pose the said board of managers, to wit; Cadwallader D. Col- 
den, John Griscom, John Duer, Jonathan M. Wainwright, 
Isaac Collins, Thomas Eddy, Ansel W. Ives, John T. Irving, 
John E. Hyde, Cornelius Du Bois, James W. Gerard, Joseph 
Curtis, John Stearns, Ralph Olmstead, Robert F. Mott, Ste¬ 
phen Allen, Henry I. Wykoff, Samuel Cowdrey, John Targee, 
Arthur Burtis, Joseph Grinnell, Hugh Maxwell, Henry Mead, 
Peter A. Jay, Gilbert Coutant, Cornelius R. Duffie, and James 
Lovett. And it is hereby further enacted , that no manager of the 
said society shall receive any compensation for his services. 

(>) Amended 22d March, 1865, by dividing into three classes, as follows: 

The managers of the Society for the Reformation of Juvenile 
Delinquents shall, as soon as conveniently may be after the 


next annual election of the society, arrange themselves into 
three classes of ten each, to be determined by lot, to serve re¬ 
spectively one, two, and three years ; and at every subsequent 
election, at the expiration of the terms thus designated, ten 
persons shall be chosen as managers to serve for the term of 
three years; any vacancy that may occur in any class during 
the term of service of said class may be filled by the board of 
managers for the unexpired portion of said term. 

Laws of 1824, chap. 126, § 2, as amended by Laws of 1865, 
chap. 172, § 1. 


III .—And be it further enacted, That if the annual election 
shall not take place on the stated day for that purpose, the said 
corporation shall not thereby be dissolved, but the members of 
said board shall continue in office until a new election, which 
shall be had at such time and place, and after such notice as 
the said board shall prescribe, and in case of an equality of 
votes for any one or more persons as a member or members of 
said board of managers, the said board shall determine which 
of such persons shall be considered as elected, and such 
person or persons shall take his or their seats and act accord- 

iagty- 

Laws of 1824, chap. 126, § 3. 


IV .—And be it further enacted, That the said managers shall 
have power in their discretion to receive and take into the 
house of refuge to be established by them, all such children as 
shall be taken up or committed as vagrants, or convicted of 
criminal offenses in the said city, as may in the judgment of the 
Court of General Sessions of the Peace, or of the Court of Oyer 
and Terminer, in and for the said city, or of the jury before 
whom any such offender shall be tried, or of the police magis¬ 
trates, or of the commissioners of the alms-house and bridewell 
of the said city, be proper objects ; and that said managers shall 
have power to place the said children committed to their care, 
during the minority of such children, at such employments, and 




173 


to cause them to be instructed in such branches of useful knowl¬ 
edge as shall be suitable to their years and capacities; and 
they shall have power in their discretion to bind out the said 
children with their consent, as apprentices or servants during 
their minority, to such persons and at such places, to learn 
such proper trades and employments as iu their judgment will 
be most for the reformation and amendment, and the future 
benefit and advantage of such children ( x ) : 

The managers of the said society shall receive into the house 
of refuge established by them in the city of New York, whenever 
they may have room for that purpose, all such children as shall 
be taken up or committed as vagrants in any city or county of 
this State, and might now if convicted of criminal offenses in 
such city or county, be sent as directed by law to said house of 
refuge, if in the judgment of the court or magistrate by whom 
whom they shall be committed as vagrants, the aforesaid 
children shall be deemed proper persons to be sent to said insti¬ 
tution. The powers and duties of the said managers in rela¬ 
tion to the children whom they shall receive in virtue of this act, 
shall be the same in all things as now provided by law in case 
of children convicted of criminal offenses and committed to the 
charge of said managers. 

Laws of 1824, ch. 126 § 4, as amended by Laws of 1860, ch. 

241, §1, and by Laws'of 1865, ch. 172, § 2. 

(i) The managers of the House of Refuge may place children at service without 
the State without indentures of apprenticeship. They may determine the kind 
of employment, the persons with whom, and the place where it shall be given. 

People vs. Governors of the House of R. Before Hon. A. B. 

James, Supreme Court, New York, Special Term, on Hab. 

Cor., Dec., 1859. 

The return of the managers to a writ of habeas corpus must be verified. The 
fact that no certificate of the conviction of the child was filed as required by 
statute, does not entitle him to a discharge. 

People vs. Superintendent of House of R. Hon. W. H. 

Scrugham, Kings County Special Term, April 1860. 

Matter of Williamson, 3 Abb. Pr. R., N. S., 244. 

The act prohibiting theatrical exhibitions on Sunday is constitutional. 

People vs. Hoym. 20 How. Pr. R., 76. 

Exposition of the law of commitments, disorderly conduct and persons. 

Matter of Miller and 11 others, 1 Daly R., 562. 


174 


A commitment to the House of Refuge, in which the term of imprisonment is not 
stated, is valid. The Legislature intended the confinement to last during the 
minority of males, and until 18 for females. 

Matter of Cornell, before Recorder Hoffman, City Court of 
New York, Nov. 8, 1865. 

Matter of Degnen, 6 Abb. Pr. R., N. S., 87. 

When the court has determined the age of an offender, designated the place of 
his confinement, and passed sentence on him, there is a final adjudication, which 
cannot be inquired into on habeas corpus. 

People vs. Keeper, (fee., 37 How. Pr. R., 494. 

People vs. Superintendent, 8 Abb. Pr., R. N. S., 112. 

Matter of Miller. Hon. Wm. H. Leonard, N. Y. Special Term, 
Sep. 27, 1872. 

An action for damages will not lie against the managers of the House of Refuge 
by a prisoner who has been discharged, for confining him in an unhealthy place, 
failing to supply him with good food, not teaching him a particular trade, not in¬ 
structing him in the Roman Catholic religion, <fec., <fec. 

O’Toole v. Managers, <fcc. Hon. F. J. Fithian, N. Y. Superior, 
Court, Special Term, Nov., 1869. 

No theatrical, (fee., (fee., performances can be given the in city of New York without 
a license from the mayor, the amount paid for which, and all penalties for the failure 
to obtain which, are for the benefit of the House of Refuge. 

The Society, (fee., v. Diers, Brady, J., N. Y. Supreme Court, 
General Term, January, 1871. 

Wallack v. the Society, (fee., Hon. Noah Davis, N. Y. Supreme 
Court, General Term, Oct., 1874. 

In this opinion, the rights of the House of Refuge, and laws conferring them, 
are elaborately considered. 


V .—And be it further enacted, That all and singular the clauses 
and provisions in the act entitled “An Act concerning appren¬ 
tices and servants,” relating to the covenants to be inserted in 
the indentures of apprentices and servants, made by the over¬ 
seers of the poor, and the provisions of the sixth, ninth, tenth, 
eleventh, twelfth and thirteenth sections of the last-mentioned 
act, shall apply to the apprentices and servants, and the per¬ 
sons to whom they may be bound, under and by virtue of 
this act. 


Laws, 1824, ch. 126, § 5. 



175 


VI .—And be it further enacted, That the said managers under 
this act may from time to time make by-laws, ordinances and 
regulations relative to the management and disposition of the 
estate and concerns of the said corporation, and management, 
government, instruction, discipline, employment and disposi¬ 
tion of the said children while in the said House of Eefuge, or 
under their care, not contrary to law, as they may deem prop¬ 
er, and may appoint such officers, agents and servants as they 
may deem necessary to transact the business.of the said cor¬ 
poration, and may designate their duties ; and further, that the 
said managers shall make an annual report to the Legislature 
and to the Corporation of the city of New York, of the number of 
children received by them into the said House of Eefuge; the 
disposition which shall be made of the said children by in¬ 
structing or employing them in the said House of Eefuge, or by 
binding them out as apprentices or servants; the receipts and 
expenditures of said managers, and generally all such facts and 
particulars as may tend to exhibit the effects, whether advan¬ 
tageous or otherwise, of the said association. 

Laws, 1824, ch. 126, § 6. 


§ 1. Nine members of the board of managers of the said 
society shall constitute a quorum for the transaction of busi¬ 
ness and for the performance of all the powers and duties of 
the board, except the appointment aud removal of any officer 
of the institution ; for which business twelve members of the 
said board shall constitute a quorum. 

Laws, 1833, ch. 144, § 1. 


VII.— And be it f urther enacted , That this act shall be and is 
hereby declared a public act, and that the same shall be con¬ 
strued in all courts and places benignly and favorably for every 
humane and laudable purpose therein contained. 




176 


YIII.— And be it further enacted, That the Legislature may, at 
any time hereafter, alter, modify, or repeal this act. 

Laws 1824, ch. 126> § 7 and 8. 


An Act to amend an act entitled “ An Act to incorporate th© 
Society for the Reformation of Juvenile Delinquents in the 
City of New York, passed March 29, 1824,” and for other 
purposes. 

§ 1. Be it enacted by the People of the State of New York, repre¬ 
sented in Senate and Assembly, That the managers of the Society 
mentioned in the act hereby amended shall receive and take in 
the House of Refuge established by them in the city of New 
York, all such children as shall be convicted of criminal of¬ 
fenses in any city or county of this State, and as may, in the 
judgment of the court before whom any such offender shall be 
tried, be deemed proper objects ; and the powers and duties of 
the said managers in relation to the children which they shall re¬ 
ceive in virtue of this act shall be the same in all things as are 
prescribed and provided by the act entitled “ An Act to incor¬ 
porate the Society for the Reformation of Juvenile Delinquents 
in the City of New York,” passed March 29, 1824, in respect to 
children which the said managers have received or may receive 
in virtue of that act. 

Laws 1826, ch. 24, § 1. 


§ 1. The person administering the government of this State' 
is hereby empowered to direct the agent of either of the State 
prisons of this State, whenever the inspectors thereof shall 
recommend the same, to convey any convicts who shall be un¬ 
der the age of seventeen years, to the House of Refuge in the 
city of New York ; and they shall there be confined according 
to the rules and regulations of said House of Refuge. The 
expenses of such removal shall be the same as allowed to sher¬ 
iffs for like services, and a charge upon such prison as part of 
its ordinary expenses to be certified by the inspectors. 

Laws 1830, ch. 181, § 1. See § 91 of the act of 14 Dec., 1847, 
infra, p. 178, § 127, which appears to be a substitute for the- 
above section. 




177 


§ 2. The expenses of such removal shall be first paid out of 
any funds of the prison for general support, to be certified by 
the inspectors. And it shall also be the duty of said inspectors 
and agent to make out a certificate of said expenses, and for¬ 
ward the same to the sheriff of the county where such convict 
or convicts were sentenced, whose duty it shall be to present 
the same to the Board of Supervisors of said county, at their 
first annual meeting thereafter. 

Laws 1830, ch. 181. 


§ 20. Whenever any person under the age of sixteen years 
shall be convicted of any felony or other crime, the court, in¬ 
stead of sentencing such person to imprisonment in a State 
prison or county jail, may order that he be removed to and 
confined in the House of Refuge established by the Society for 
the Reformation of Juvenile Delinquents in the City of New 
York ; unless notice shall have been received from such so¬ 
ciety that there is not room in such house for the reception 
of further delinquents. 

3 Revised Statutes, 990, § 20, as Amended Laws 1840, chap. 

100 . 


GENERAL PROVISIONS. 

§ 24. It shall be the duty of the courts of criminal jurisdic¬ 
tion in the several counties which now are or shall be hereafter 
designated as the counties from which juvenile delinquents are 
to be sent to the said House of Refuge to ascertain, by such 
proof as may be in their power, the age of every delinquent by 
them respectively sentenced to the said House of Refuge, and to 
insert such age in the order of commitment, and the age thus 
ascertained shall be deemed and taken to be the true age of 
such delinquent ( 1 ). 

3 Revised Statutes, p. 991, § 24 ; Laws 1852, ch. 387. 

(i) The court will not, upon habeas corpus, go behind the statement as to age con¬ 
tained in the commitment to the House of Refuge, and take evidence as to pris¬ 
oner’s age. 

People ex rel. McCabe vs. Supt. House of R., 8 Abb. Pr., N. S. 

112 . 


12 




178 


§ 25. In cases where any such court shall omit to insert in 
the order of commitment the age of any delinquent committed 
to the said House of Refuge, the managers shall, as soon as may 
be after such delinquent shall be received by them, ascertain 
his age by the best means in their power, and cause the same 
to be entered in a book to be designated by them for the pur¬ 
pose. And the age of such delinquent thus ascertained shall 
be deemed and taken to be the true age of such delinquent. 

3 Revised Statutes, p. 991, §25; Laws 1852, ch. 38V. 


§ 127. The agent of each prison, whenever the inspectors shall 
so direct by a warrant under their hands, shall convey any 
convicts who shall be under the age of seventeen years, to the 
House of Refuge in the city of New York, who shall there be 
confined according to the rules and regulations of the said 
House of Refuge; the expenses of such removal shall be the 
same as allowed to sheriffs for like services, and a charge upon 
such prison as a part of its ordinary expenses to be certified 
by the inspector. 

3 Revised Statutes, p. 1094, § 12V; Laws 184V, ch. 460, 
§ 91. 


§ 128. The expenses of such removal shall be first paid out 
of any funds of the prison, not otherwise appropriated,' and 
shall be certified by the agent; it shall also be the duty of the 
agent of the prison to make out a certificate of such expenses 
and transmit the same, or a counterpart thereof, to the sheriff 
in each county in which any such convicts were sentenced ; the 
sheriff receiving such certificate shall present the same to the 
Board of Supervisors of the county at the first annual meeting 
thereafter. 

3 Revised Statutes, p. 1094, § 128 ; Laws 184V, ch. 460, § 92. 


§ 26. From and after the passage of this act, it shall be 
the duty of the several courts having criminal jurisdiction, and 





179 


who shall hold courts within the limits of the fourth, fifth, sixth, 
seventh and eighth judicial districts of this State, to order all 
juvenile delinquents by them respectively sentenced, to be 
removed (and all such delinquents convicted in the first, second 
and third judicial districts shall be ordered by such court to be 
removed to and confined in the House of Befuge established 
by the Society for the Keformation of Juvenile Delinquents in 
the city of New York) to the “ Western House of Befuge for 
Juvenile Delinquents” in the city of Bochester. 

3 Revised Statutes, p. 992, § 26; Laws 1850, ch. 24, § 1. 


§ 130. All convicts under the age of seventeen years, who shall 
be confined in the Auburn or Clinton prisons, and who shall 
hereafter be ordered by the inspector of State prisons to be 
removed to a House of Befuge, shall be removed to said 
“ Western House of Befuge” in the city of Bochester, under 
the same regulations and conditions as is contained in the 
ninety-first, ninety-second and ninety-third sections of the act 
entitled “ An Act for the better regulation of the County and 
State prisons of this State, and consolidating and amending 
the existing laws in relation thereto,” passed December 14, 
1874. 

3 Revised Statutes, p. 1094, § 130 ; Laws 1850, ch. 24, § 2. 


§ 3. All acts and parts of acts, inconsistent with the provi¬ 
sions of this act, are hereby repealed. 

Laws 1850, chap. 24, § 3. 


§ 35. It shall be the duty of the respective keepers of the 
House of Befuge in the city of New York, and the Western 
House of Befuge to receive and safely keep in their respective 
houses, subject to the regulations and discipline thereof, any 
criminal under the age of sixteen years, convicted of any 
offense against the United States, sentenced to imprisonment 
therein by any court of the United States sitting within this 





180 


State, until such sentence be executed, or until silcli convict 
shall be discharged by due course of law; the United States 
supporting such convict and paying the expenses attendant 
upon the execution of such sentence. 

3 Revised Statutes, 993, § 35; Laws 1853, ch. 608. 


§ 3. It shall be the duty of all courts and magistrates by 
whom any juvenile delinquent shall be committed or sent to 
the House of Refuge of the city of New York, to ascertain the 
age of such delinquent by such proof as may be in their power, 
and to insert such age in the order of commitment, and the age 
thus ascertained shall be deemed and taken to be the true 
age of such delinquent. 

Laws 1865, ch. 172, § 3. 


§ 4. In case where the age of the delinquent so committed is 
not so ascertained and inserted in the order of commitment,, 
the said managers shall, as soon as may be after such delin¬ 
quent shall be received by them, ascertain the age of such de¬ 
linquent by such proof as may be in their power, and cause 
the same to be entered in a book to be designated by them for 
that purpose, and the age thus ascertained shall be deemed 
and taken to be the true age of such delinquent. 

Laws 1865, ch. 172, § 4. 


§ 5. All children under the age of sixteen, in the several 
counties which now are or hereafter shall be designated by 
law as the counties from which juvenile delinquents shall be 
sent to the House of Refuge in the city of New York, desert¬ 
ing their homes without good and sufficient cause, or keeping 
company with dissolute or vicious persons against the lawful 
commands of their fathers, mothers, guardians, or other per¬ 
sons standing in the place of a parent, shall be deemed disor- 
orderly children. 

Laws 1865, ch. 172, § 5. 



181 


§ 6. Upon complaint made on oatli to any police magistrate 
or justice of the peace, against any child within his comity 
under the age of sixteen, by his or her parent or guardian, or 
other person standing to him or her in place of a parent, as 
being disorderly, such magistrate or justice shall issue his 
warrant for the apprehension of the offender, and cause him 
•or her to be brought before himself or any other police magis¬ 
trate or justice of the said county for examination. 

Laws 1865, ch. 172, § 6. 


§ 7. If such magistrate or justice be satisfied by competent 
testimony that such person is a disorderly child within the 
description aforesaid, he shall make up and sign a record of 
conviction thereof, and shall by warrant under his hand commit 
such person to the House of Refuge established by the 
managers of the Society for the Reformation of Juvenile De¬ 
linquents in the City of New York, and the powers and duties 
•of the said managers in relation to the said children shall be 
the same in all things as are prescribed as to other juvenile 
delinquents received by them; provided, however, that any 
person committed under this act shall have the same right of 
appeal now secured by law to persons convicted of criminal 
offense; but on any such appeal mere informality in the issuing 
of any warrant shall not be held to be sufficient cause for 
granting a discharge. 

Laws 1865, ck. 172, § 7. 


Naval Schools of House of Refuge. 

§ 1. The Managers of the Society for the Reformation of 
Juvenile Delinquents are hereby authorized to establish a 
school-ship for the purpose of instructing the boys in their 
charge in navigation and the duties of seamanship, and for that 
purpose they are authorized to purchase and hold any vessel 
-or vessels, and to navigate the same into and upon any of the 
ports and waters of the State. 

Laws 1869, ch. 285, § 1. 



182 


§ 2. The said society may employ such superintendents and 
officers for the government and instruction of the boys, and 
from time to time make such rules and regulations for the gov¬ 
ernment of the school-ship as they may deem expedient. 

Laws of 1869, ch. 285, § 2. 


§ 3. The said society shall have the control of the school-ship 
and other vessels procured for the institution, and may transfer 
from the House of Refuge on board of said ship or vessels such 
boys under their charge as they may elect, and shall cause 
them to be instructed in navigation and the duties of seaman¬ 
ship, and may send any boy upon a voyage at sea, and in his 
behalf enter into necessary contract therefor, with his assent 
or the assent of his parent or guardian, if it is practicable ta 
obtain the same. 

Laws of 1869, ch. 285, § 3. 


Disorderly Delinquents in the House of Refuge. 

§ 1. Whenever it shall appear to the managers of the Society 
for the Reformation of Juvenile Delinquents in the city of New 
York, that any of the delinquents confined in the House of 
Refuge established by said society in the city of New York, or 
under their care, shall have been guilty of attempting wilfully 
to set fire to any building belonging to the institution, or any 
combustible matter for the purpose of setting fire to any such 
building, or that any delinquent shall have been guilty of vio¬ 
lence to any officer or inmate of the institution, or of openly 
resisting the lawful authority of the officers of the institution, 
or of attempting by threats or otherwise to incite others to do 
so, or shall by gross or habitual misconduct exert a dangerous 
and pernicious influence over the other delinquents, it shall be 
lawful for the said managers to submit a written statement of' 
the facts in any such case to a justice of the Supreme Court in 
the first judicial district, or of the Superior Court, or to a judge 



183 


of the Court of Common Pleas of the city and county of New 
York, and thereupon to apply to him for an order authorizing 
the temporary confinement of such delinquent for correction in 
the penitentiary or county jail of the county of New York, or 
in the penitentiary or county jail of the county from which the 
delinquent was committed. 

Laws 1873, ch. 359, § 1. 


§ 2. It shall be the duty of the justice or judge so applied to 
forthwith Summarily to inquire into and take proof of the facts 
of the case; and if it shall appear to him that the statement is 
substantially true, and that the case is one in which the ends 
designed to be accomplished by the institution or its general 
welfare will be best promoted by his doing so, he shall there¬ 
upon make an order authorizing the confinement of the delin¬ 
quent in the said penitentiary or county jail in the city of New 
York, or in the penitentiary or county jail of the county from 
which the delinquent was committed, for a limited period to be 
expressed in the order, and not exceeding the period of six 
months. And the superintendent or keeper of the said peni¬ 
tentiary or county jail determined upon by said judge and 
named in said order, is hereby authorized and required to re¬ 
ceive such delinquent and detain him during the period ex¬ 
pressed in such order, unless the managers shall previously to 
the expiration of such period direct him to be returned to the 
said House of Refuge. 

Laws 1873, ch. 359, § 2. 


§ 3. At the expiration of the period limited by the said order, 
or sooner if the said managers shall direct it, the superinten¬ 
dent or keeper of the said penitentiary or county jail shall re¬ 
turn such delinquent to the custody and care of the superin¬ 
tendent of the said House of Refuge, to be further dealt with 
according to the laws, rules and regulations ordained for its 
government. 

Laws 1873, ch. 359, § 3. 




184 


§ 4. No person convicted of vagrancy or of any criminal 
offense, and committed to or confined in the House of Refuge 
established by the said society in the city 7 ' of New York, shall 
be discharged by habeas corpus or certiorari from such confine¬ 
ment, on the ground that no certificate of such conviction has 
been filed, or on the ground of any variance, misdescription, 
misnomer, or any defects or imperfections in matter of form 
contained in the record, process, entries, judgment, order of 
commitment, returns, or other proceedings under or in pursu¬ 
ance of which such commitment was made; provided, that such 
certificate be filed, or such variance, misdescription, misnomer, 
or defect or imperfection in matter of form be corrected by 
order of the court before which such writ of habeas corpus or 
certiorari is returnable ( J ). 

Laws 1878, ch. 859, § 4. 

( ] ) See p. 189, §§ 32, 33, for Laws of 1875, ch. 228, affecting the House of Refuge. 


House or Refuge in Western New York. 

§ 13. The said managers and superintendent shall receive 
and take into the said House of Refuge all male children under 
the age of eighteen years ( x ), and all female children under the age of 
seventeen who shall be legally committed to the said House of 
Refuge as vagrants, or on a conviction for any criminal offense 
by any court having authority to make such commitments; the 
said managers shall have power to place the said children com¬ 
mitted to their care, during the minority of such children, at 
such employments, and cause them to be instructed in such 
branches of useful knowledge as shall be suitable to their years 
and capacities; and they shall have power, in their discretion, 
to bind out the said children, with their consent, as apprentices 
or servants, during their minority, to such persons and at such 
places, to learn such proper trades and employments as in their 
judgment will be most for the reformation and amendment, and 
the future benefit and advantage of such children; provided, 
that the charge and power of the said managers upon and over 



185 


the said children shall not extend, in the case ot females, beyond 
the age of eighteen years, or in the case of males, beyond the 
age of twenty-one years. 

Laws 1846, ch. 143, § 13. 

(') Query—Whether the words italicized were not amended by the Act of 1850, 
•ch. 304, so as to substitute sixteen for eighteen, and by striking out “ and all female 
children under the age of seventeen.” 

See p. 178, § 26; p. 179, §§ 130, 3 and 35, for laws affecting both the House of 
Refuge in Western New York and the House of Refuge in New York city. 


§ 14. All and singular the clauses and provisions contained 
in the fourth title of chapter eight of the second part of the 
Revised Statutes, relating to the covenants to be inserted in the 
indentures of apprentices and servants, made by the overseers 
of the poor,, shall apply to the apprentices and servants, and 
the persons to whom they may be bound, under and by virtue 
of this act. 

Laws of 1846, ch. 143, § 14. 


§ 15. Whenever the said House of Refuge shall, in the 
opinion of the commissioners authorized to be appointed by 
the third section of this act, be in readiness for the reception of 
persons committed thereto, the said commissioners shall make, 
under their hands and seals, duplicate certificates thereof, one 
of which they shall transmit by mail to the governor of this 
State, and the other of which they shall cause to be filed in the 
office of the clerk of the county in which such House of Refuge 
shall be situated. The governor, on receiving such certificate, 
shall make an order designating the counties which shall there¬ 
after be authorized to send juvenile deliquents to the said House 
of Refuge, and shall file the certificate of such commissioners, 
and his said order, in the office of the Secretary of State. The 
said Secretary of State shall transmit by mail to the first judge 
and county clerk of- each of the counties designated in said 
order a certified copy of such certificate and order ( 2 ). 

3 Revised Statutes, 991, § 21; Laws of 1846, ch. 143, § 15. 

,( 2 ) Query—Whether this section was repealed by A.ct of February 26, 1850. 




186 


§ 16. From and after the time of making such order, the 
courts of criminal jurisdiction of the several counties designated 
in such order, shall sentence to said House of Befuge every male 
under the age of sixteen years, who shall be convicted before 
such court of any felony; the said courts, and the several 
magistrates of the said counties, may, in their discretion sentence 
to said House of Befuge any such male or who may be 
convicted before them of any petit larceny ; and the courts and 
magistrates of the county where such House of Befuge may be 
located, may also, in their discretion, send to said House of 
Befuge, any such male who may be convicted before them as a 
vagrant. 

3 Revised Statutes, p. 991, § 22; Laws of 1846, ch. 143, § 16, 
as amended 1850, ch. 304, §§ 1 and 2, and 1852, ch. 387. 


§ 18. All provisions of existing laws requiring the courts of 
any of the counties which shall be named in the order to be 
made by the governor, under the provisions of the fifteenth 
section of this act, to sentence persons to the House of Befuge 
in the city of New York, shall be from and after the making of 
the said order, repealed so far as the same relates to the coun¬ 
ties named in the said order, and shall be’ inconsistent with the 
provisions of this act. 

Laws 1846, ch. 143, § 18. 


§ 27. Whenever it shall appear to the managers of the West¬ 
ern House of Befuge that any of the delinquents therein confined 
shall have been guilty of attempting willfully to set fire to any 
building belonging to the institution, or any combustible matter 
for the purpose of setting fire to any such building, or that any 
delinquent shall have been guilty of openly resisting the lawful 
authority of the officers of the institution, or of attempting, by 
threat or otherwise, to excite others to do so, or shall by gross 
or habitual misconduct, exert a dangerous and pernicious in- 




187 


fluence over the other delinquents, it shall be lawful for them 
to submit a written statement of the facts in any such case to 
a judge of the Supreme Court, or to the county judge of the 
county of Monroe, and thereupon apply to him for an order 
authorizing the temporary confinement of such delinquent,, 
for correction, in the Monroe County Penitentiary. 

3 Revised Statutes, p. 992, § 27; Laws 1861, ch. 306. 


§ 28. It shall be the duty of the judge forthwith summarily 
to inquire into the facts of the case, and if it shall appear to 
him that the statement is substantially true, and that the case 
is one in wbicli the ends designed to be accomplished by the 
institution will be best promoted by it, he shall thereupon make 
an order authorizing the confinement of the delinquent in 
said penitentiary for a limited period to be expressed in the 
order, and the superintendent or keeper of the said peniten¬ 
tiary is hereby authorized and required to receive such delin¬ 
quent and detain him during the period expressed in such 
order, unless the managers shall previously direct him to be re¬ 
turned to the said House of Refuge. 

3 Revised Statutes, p. 992, § 28 ; Laws 1861, ch. 306. 


§ 29. At the expiration of the period limited by the said 
order, or sooner if the said managers shall direct it, the Superin¬ 
tendent or keeper of the said Penitentiary shall return such 
delinquent to the custody and care of the Superintendent of 
the said House of Refuge, to be further dealt with according to 
the laws, rules, and regulations ordained for its government. 
During the confinement of all such persons sent from the said 
Western House of Refuge to the Penitentiary, the State shall 
pay for the board and clothing of such persons as were here¬ 
tofore sentenced, or are now in, or may hereafter be sent to 
such penitentiary, at the same rate as paid for other State 
prisoners confined in said Penitentiary, not exceeding one dol¬ 
lar and fifty cents per week for such board. 

3 Revised Statutes, p. 992, § 29; Laws 1861, ch. 306, as 
amended Laws 1875, ch. 536. 




188 


§ 30. The Managers and Superintendent shall receive and 
take into said House of Refuge, all female children under the 
age of sixteen, who shall be legally committed to said House 
of Refuge as vagrants, or on a conviction of any criminal of¬ 
fense by any court having authority to make such commit¬ 
ments. The said managers shall have power to place the said 
children committed to their care, during the minority of such 
children, at such employments, and cause them to be instructed 
in such branches of useful knowledge as shall be suitable to 
their years and capacities; and they shall have power, in their 
discretion, to bind out the said children, with their consent, as 
apprentices or servants, during their minority, to such persons, 
and at such places to learn such proper trades and employment, 
as in their judgment will be most for the reformation, and the 
future benefit and advantage of such children, provided that 
the charge and power of said managers upon and over said 
female children, shall not extend beyond the age of eighteen 
years. 

3 Revised Statutes, p. 992, § 30, Laws 1875, ch. 228. 


§ 31. Whenever the said department for females of the 
Western House of Refuge shall, in the opinion of the managers, 
be in readiness for the reception of persons committed thereto, 
the said managers shall make duplicate certificates thereof, one 
of which shall be transmitted by mail to the Governor of this 
State, and the other of which shall be filed in the office of the 
cleik of the county of Monroe. The Governor, on receiving 
such certificate, shall make an order authorizing courts in the 
fourth, fifth, sixth, seventh and eighth judicial districts of the 
State, to send female delinquents to the said House of Refuge, 
&nd shall file the certificate of such managers and his said order 
in the office of the Secretary of State ; the said Secretary of 
State shall transmit by mail to the first judge and county clerk 
of each of the counties included in the judicial districts desig¬ 
nated in said order, a certified copy of such certificate and 
order. 

3 Revised Statutes, p. 993, § 31 ; Laws 1875, ch. 228, § 8. 



189 


§ 32. From and after the time of making sucli order, the 
courts of criminal jurisdiction of the several counties in the 
judicial districts designated in said order, shall sentence to the 
said House of Refuge, every female under the age of sixteen 
years, who shall be convicted before such court of any felony; 
the said courts and the several magistrates of the said counties 
may, in their discretion, sentence to the said House of Re¬ 
fuge, any such female who may be convicted before them of 
petit larceny, prostitution or disorderly conduct. 

3 Revised Statutes, p. 993, § 32; Laws 1875, ch. 228, § 9. 


§ 33. All provisions or existing laws, requiring the courts in 
any of the judical districts named in the order to be made by 
the Governor under the provisions of the ninth section of this 
act, to sentence persons to the House of Refuge in the city 
of Hew York, shall be, from and after the making of the said 
order, repealed, so far as the same relates to the counties em¬ 
braced in the said order, and shall be inconsistent with the 
provisions of this act. 

3 Revised Statutes, p. 993, § 33 ; Laws 1875, ch 228, § 10. 


§ 34. All acts inconsistent with the provisions of this act 
are hereby repealed. 

3 Revised Statutes, p. 993, § 34; Laws 1875, ch. 228, §11. 


The New York Juvenile Asylum. 

House of Reception, 61 West Thirteenth Street; Asylum, Tenth 
Avenue and One Hundred and Seventy-sixth street. 

§ 1. Robert B. Min turn, Myndert Van Scliaick, Robert M. 
Stratton, Solomon, Jenner, Albert Gilbert, Stewart Brown, 
Francis R. Tillou, David S. Kennedy, Joseph B. Collins, Benja- 





190 


min F. Butler, Isaac T. Hopper, Charles Partridge, Luther Brad- 
ish, Christopher Y. Wemple, Charles O’Conor, John D. Buss, 
John Buer, Peter Cooper, Appollos B. Wetmore, Frederick S. 
Winston, James Kelly, Silas C. Herring, Bensselaer N. Havens, 
John W. Edmunds, and their associates, are hereby constituted 
a body corporate by the name of “ New York Juvenile Asy¬ 
lum,” and by that name shall have the powers which, by the 
third title of the eighteenth chapter of the first part of the Be- 
vised Statutes, are declared to belong to corporations; and 
shall be capable of taking by purchase or devise, holding and 
conveying any estates, real or personal, for the uses and pur¬ 
poses of said corporation ; but such real estate shall not exceed 
the yearly value of twenty thousand dollars, nor be applied to 
any other purposes than those for which this corporation is 
created. 

Laws 1851, ch. 332, § 1. 


§ 2. The objects of this corporation are to receive and take 
charge of such children, between the ages of seven and fourteen 
years, as may be voluntarily entrusted to them by their parents 
or guardians, or committed to their charge by competent 
authority, and provide for their support; and to afford them 
the means of moral, intellectual, and industrial education. 

Laws 1851, ch. 332, § 2, as amended Laws 1854, ch. 3S7, § 2. 


& 6. The corporation hereby created may, so soon as may be 
practicable, procure suitable building sites and lands, and erect 
and maintain thereon an asylum for such children as, under 
this act, the regulations to be adopted by the board of direct¬ 
ors, and the laws of the State and city of New York, may be 
entrusted or committed to the care and management of the said 
corporation ; such asylum shall embrace the buildings necessary 
for the comfortable accommodation of the children therein; for 
their instruction, moral, intellectual, and industrial; and for 
their general treatment in such manner as may best promote 



191 


their welfare, and most fully accomplish the beneficent designs 
and objects of the said corporation ; and until such building 
site and lands shall be procured, and the permanent building of 
the asylum thereon erected and completed for use, the corpora¬ 
tion may procure such temporary accommodations as may be 
necessary for its purposes. 

Laws 1851, chap. 332, § 6 ; as amended Laws 1853, ch. 547, § 1. 


§ 7. The said corporation may receive under its care and 
management children between the ages of seven and fourteen 
years belonging to the classes described in this section, and 
also children under the age of seven years, belonging to said 
classes, who, in the judgment of the directors of said corpora¬ 
tion, have special claims on its care. The persons herein in¬ 
tended are : 

1. Such children as by the consent, in writing, of their 
parents and guardians, shall be voluntarily surrendered and 
entrusted to it. 

2. Such children as may be committed to it by order of any 
magistrate or magistrates of the city and county of New York, 
under the ninth section of this act. 

3. Truant children who may be committed to its charge by 
the order of any magistrate or magistrates under the thirteenth 
section of this act. 

4. Children deserting their homes or disobedient to their 
parents or guardians, who may be committed to its charge by 
the order of any magistrate or magistrates under the fourteenth 
section of this act. 

Laws 1851, ch. 332, § 7; as amended Laws 1854, ch. 387, and 
Laws 1866, ch. 245. 


§ 8. Children entrusted to this corporation by the voluntary 
act of their parents or guardians shall be deemed to be in the 
lawful charge and custody of the said corporation ; and such 
surrender shall be evidenced by a writing in form substantially 
as follows : 


\ 



192 


“I, A. B. (father, mother, or guardian, as the ease may be), 
of C. IX, (a boy or girl), aged years, born in , do 

hereby surrender and intrust to the £ New York Juvenile Asy¬ 
lum,’ for the period of years, the entire charge, manage¬ 

ment, and control of the said C. D., and do hereby assign to,, 
and invest the said corporation with the same powers and con¬ 
trol over the said C. D. as those of which I am possessed. 

In presence of 

Laws of 1851, ch. 332, §8. 


§ 9. Whenever any child above the age of seven and under 
the age of fourteen years, shall be brought by any policeman of 
the city of New York before the mayor or recorder or any al¬ 
derman or other magistrate of the said city, upon the allegation 
that such child Was found in any way, street, highway or public 
place in said city, in the circumstances of want and suffering or 
abandonment, exposure or neglect, or of beggary, specified or 
defined in the eighteenth section of the act entitled, “ An Act 
relative to the powers of the common council of the city of New 
York, and the police and criminal courts of said city,” passed 
January 23,1833 (*), and it shall be proved to the satisfaction of 
such magistrate, by competent testimony, that such child is em¬ 
braced within the said section, and it shall further appear, to the 
satisfaction of such magistrate, by competent testimony, or by 
the examination of the child, that by reason of the neglect-,, 
habitual drunkenness or other vicious habits of the parents, or 
other lawful guardian of such child, it is a proper objecfrfor the 
care and instruction of this corporation, such magistrate, in¬ 
stead of committing such child to the alms-house of said city* 
or such other place, if any, as may have been provided by the 
common council thereof in his discretion, by warrant in writing 
under his hand, may commit such child to this corporation to 
be and remain under the guardianship of its directors until 
therefrom discharged in manner prescribed by law ; such com¬ 
mitment shall be by warrant in substance, as follows: 

“ To A. B., one of the policemen of the city of New York : 
You are hereby commanded to take charge of A. B., a child 



193 


under the age of fourteen and above the age of seven years 
who has been proved to me, by competent evidence, to be em¬ 
braced within the eighteenth section of the act, entitled, £ An 
Act relative to the powers of the common council of the city of 
New York, and the police and criminal courts of said city,’ ap¬ 
proved January 23,1833 (*), and who also appears to my satisfac¬ 
tion to be a proper object for the*care and instruction of the cor¬ 
poration, created by an act entitled, ‘ An Act to incorporate the 
New York Juvenile Asylum,’ passed, June 30,1851, and to deliver 
the said child, without delay, to the said corporation at its 
House of Reception in this city, and for so doing this shall be 
your sufficient warrant. 

Dated this day of , 18 

Laws of 1851, ch. 332, § 9, as amended Laws of 1854, ch. 387. 
p) And for which see page 143. 


§ 10. Any order so made by any such magistrate shall be ex¬ 
ecuted by any policeman to whom it shall be delivered by the 
magistrate by conveying the child therein named to the house 
of reception to be established by this corporation and such 
child shall be detained in such House of Reception until dis¬ 
charged or removed therefrom in the manner hereinafter pro¬ 
vided. 

Laws of 1851, ch. 232, § 10. 


§ 11. Immediately upon the making of any such order, the magis¬ 
trate making the same shall deliver to a policeman of the city es¬ 
pecially detailed for that service a notice in writing addressed to 
the father of such child, if its father is still living, and resident 
within the city, and if not, then to its mother if she be living, 
and so resident, and if there be no father or mother of such 
child resident within the city, then addressed to the lawful 
guardian of such child, if any, or the persons with whom ac¬ 
cording to the examination of the child and the testimony, if 
any, received by such magistrate, such child shall reside, in 
which notice the party to whom the same is addressed shall be 
informed of the commitment of such child to the House of Re- 
13 




194 


ception of this corporation, and shall be notified that unless 
taken therefrom in the maimer prescribed by law, within twenty 
days after the service of such notice, the child therein named 
will be and become the ward of this corporation. 

Laws of 1851, ch. 332, § 11, as amended by Laws of 1854, ch. 

387, and further amended by Laws of 1866, ch. 246. 


§ 2. Whenever, after careful and diligent search and inquiry, 
the policeman, whose duty it was to serve the notice described 
in the eleventh section of the act hereby amended, shall not 
have found either the father, mother, legal guardian or person 
with whom, according to the examination of the child, and the 
testimony, if any, received by such magistrate, it shall be the 
duty of the superintendent of the House of Reception to cause 
the following notice, w r ith the proper blanks inserted, to be 
posted up in a conspicuous place in the police station house 
nearest the alleged residence of the child, viz. : 

Notice.— This is to certify, that , a child of 

about the age of years, hair, eyes, 

complexion, in height, and said to be of 

descent, was on the ^day of , 18 , com¬ 
mitted by to the House of Reception of the New 

York Juvenile Asylum, number Twenty-three West Thirteenth 
street, and that after careful search and inquiry made by 

, neither the parents, legal guardians, or persons with 
whom said is alleged to have resided, can be found. 

Superintendent. 

New York, 18 . 

And the posting of said notice, as above required, shall be 
deemed as equivalent to having duly served it on the parent or 
guardian or person with whom the child was alleged to have re¬ 
sided, in cases where they or either of them could be found. 

Laws of 1856, ch. 67, § 2. 


§ 12. Such notice shall be served by the policeman detailed 
for that service, by delivering the same to the party to whom 



195 


it shall have been addressed, personally, or by leaving it with 
some person of sufficient age at the place of residence or busi¬ 
ness of such party, and it shall be the duty of such policeman 
immediately to report the fact, and the time, and the manner of 
such service to the magistrate, and to enter in a book to be pro¬ 
vided for that purpose, and kept at the House of Reception of 
the New York Juvenile Asylum, the fact of having served such 
notice, the time and manner of such service, and the fact thus 
recorded shall, in all cases be presumptive evidence of the pro¬ 
per service of such notice. If the party to whom such notice 
shall have been addressed, or any other person, shall within the 
time therein specified, prove to the satisfaction of the magis¬ 
trate issuing the same, that the circumstances of want or 
suffering, or other circumstances described in the eighteenth 
section of the aforesaid act, passed January 23d, 1833, under 
which such child shall have been bound, have not been 
occasioned by the habitual neglect or misconduct of the 
parents or lawful guardians of such child, then it shall be the 
duty of such magistrate, by order in writing, addressed to the 
superintendent of the House of Reception of this corporation, 
to direct such superintendent to deliver such child to the 
custody of the party named in such order, who shall thereupon 
be entitled to take such child from the said House of Recep¬ 
tion. But if such proof shall not be produced within the time 
<above prescribed, such child shall be removed from the House 
of Reception to the asylum ; and whether such removal to the 
.asylum has taken plaee or not, the order of commitment by 
such magistrate shall be final, and he shall thereafter have no 
power to discharge such child from the House of Reception, or 
from the asylum, or in any manner from the care and custody 
of said corporation. 

Laws of 1851, ch. 332, § 12, as amended by Laws of 1854, ch. 

387, and further amended by Laws of 18u6, ch. 245. 


§ 13. If any child under the age of fourteen years, having 
sufficient bodily health and mental capacity to attend the pub¬ 
lic schools, shall be found wandering in the streets or lanes, or 



196 


in any public place in the city of New York, idle, truant, or 
without any lawful occupation, any police magistrate or justice 
of the district courts in said city, on complaint thereof by any 
citizen, on oath, shall cause such child to be brought before him 
for examination, and shall also cause the parent, or guardian, 
or master of such child, if he or she have any, to be notified to 
attend such examination. If, on such examination, the com¬ 
plaint shall be satisfactorily established, such magistrate or 
justice shall require the parent, guardian or master to enter into 
an engagement in writing to the corporate authorities of said 
city, that he will restrain such child from so wandering about,., 
will keep him or her on his own premises, or in some lawful 
occupation, and will cause such child to be sent to some school, 
at least four months in each year, until he or she becomes four¬ 
teen years old. Such magistrate or justice, as aforesaid, may, 
in his discretion, require security for the faithful performance 
of such engagement. If such child has no parent, guardiaii, or 
master, or none can be found, or if such parent, guardian, or mas¬ 
ter, refuse or neglect for twenty days to enter into such an en¬ 
gagement, and to give such security, if required, such magistrate 
or justice shall, by warrant under his hand, commit such child 
exclusively to this corporation. If the engagement provided 
for in this act shall be habitually or intentionally violated, such 
magistrate or justice shall, on complaint thereof, in the man¬ 
ner already described in this section, cause such child to be 
again brought before him for examination, with notice to the 
person by whom the engagement was made, or if such person 
cannot be found, or no longer has the custody of such child, 
then, with notice to the person having the guardianship or 
control of such child, if any such person there be, to attend 
such examination, and if the complaint shall be satisfactorily 
established, the magistrate or justice, as aforesaid, shall, by 
warrant, commit such child exclusively to said corporation. 
Nothing herein contained shall be construed to relieve the per- 
sou who has so violated his engagement from the penalty pre¬ 
scribed by section second of chapter one hundred and eighty- 
five of the Laws of 1853, and the provisions of that section are 
extended to this act, as far as the same are applicable. It shall 
be the duty of every policeman of the police force in said city,. 


197 


who shall find any child in the condition herein described, to 
arrest and to bring such child before such magistrate or justice, 
to be dealt with in accordance with the provisions of this sec¬ 
tion. The Board of Metropolitan Police Commissioners are 
hereby authorized and required to make necessary and suitable 
regulations for carrying into effect the duty hereby imposed 
iupon said policemen. 

Laws of 1851, eli. 332, § 18, as amended Laws 1866, ch. 245. 

See Laws 1833., chap. 11, ante page 141, et seq. 


§ 14. If any child in the city of New York, between the ages 
of seven and fourteen years, shall desert his home without suf¬ 
ficient cause, or shall keep company with dissolute or vicious 
persons against the lawful command of his or her father, mother, 
.guardian or other person standing in the place of a parent, 
then upon complaint upon oath by such parent, or other per¬ 
son standing in the relation of parent, any police magistrate or 
district justice of said city shall cause such child to be brought 
before himself, or any other magistrate or justice for examina¬ 
tion. If such justice or magistrate be satisfied by competent 
testimony that such child is one of the class of persons de¬ 
scribed in the first clause of this section, he shall, by warrant 
under his hand, commit such child, in his discretion, to the 
charge of this corporation. Nothing herein contained shall 
prevent proceedings from being taken under other statutory 
provisions applicable to the class of children described in this 
^section. Persons committed under this and the preceding sec¬ 
tion shall be subjected to the same general treatment as other 
children committed to the charge of this corporation, or volun¬ 
tarily entrusted to it ( 1 ). 

Laws of 1851, ch. 332, § 14, as amended Laws of 1866, ch. 245. 

(’) A court will not, upon the return to a writ of habeas corpus inquire into the 
regularity of the proceedings before a committing magistrate, if it appears that 
the commitment was in the form prescribed by the provisions of this act. 

People vs. K Y. Juvenile Asylum, 12 Abb. Pr., 92. 



198 


§ 15. If any child, who has been previously arrested and de¬ 
livered to the parent or guardian, as herein before provided, 
shall again be found in either of the conditions described in 
the eighteenth section of the act aforesaid, the magistrate be¬ 
fore whom such child is brought, upon proof thereof, may 
forthwith make a final order for committing such child to the 
care and instruction of this corporation, without giving the 
notice provided for in section eleventh of this act. 

* Laws of 1851, ch. 332, § 15. 


§ 16. If, at any time after a child shall have been committed’ 
to the said New York Juvenile Asylum, as above provided for 
in this act, it shall be made to appear to the satisfaction of the 
board of directors of the said asylum that such child was, on 
insufficient cause, false or deficient testimony, or otherwise wrong¬ 
fully or improvidently so committed, the said board of directors* 
shall, on the application of the parents, guardian, or other 
protector of such child, discharge the child from the said asy¬ 
lum, and restore it to such parents, guardian or protector ; and, 
also, if after a child shall have been properly committed to the 
said New York Juvenile Asylum, by virtue and in pursuance of 
the provisions of this act, any circumstances should occur, that,, 
in the judgment of the board of directors of the said asylum,, 
would render expedient and proper a discharge of such child 
from the said asylum, having a due regard to the welfare of 
the child, and the purposes of the asylum, the said board of 
directors, on application of the parents, guardian or protector 
of such child, may, in their discretion, discharge the child from 
the said asylum, and restore it to its parents, guardian or pro¬ 
tector, on such reasonable conditions as the said board of di¬ 
rectors may deem right and proper. 

Laws of 1851, ch. 332, § 16. 


§ 17. The said corporation - shall have power to return to the- 
committing.magistrate or other proper authorities to be dis¬ 
posed of in due course of law, any child whatsoever, who for any 



199 


reason in the judgment of the directors of said corporation shall 
not be a proper subject for its care. It shall also have power 
to transfer such child to the custody of the Commissioners of 
Public Charities and Correction of the city and county of New 
York, or to any other incorporated public institution for the care 
of vagrant, h6meless, orphan or criminal children, and to make 
with such institution suitable and needful arrangements for the 
care, support and education of such child. Said commissioners 
or such institution shall have power, on their part, to receive 
such child from the New York Juvenile Asylum, and to enter into 
the arrangements for the care, support and education thereof 
heretofore specified in this section, anything in its charter or 
the laws governing it to the contrary notwithstanding. 

Laws of 1851, ch. 332, § 17, as amended Laws, 1866, ch. 245. 


§ 18. The said corporation shall have power, in its discretion, 
to bind out or indenture as clerks or apprentices in this State, 
and also in any State of the United States which shall by its 
laws recognize the validity of such indentures, to some profes¬ 
sion, trade or employment, the children entrusted or committed 
to its charge, and for a shorter or longer period, not exceeding, 
the age of twenty-one years for males, and eighteen years for 
females. It shall be the duty of all courts and magistrates by 
whom any child shall be committed to the charge of this cor¬ 
poration, to ascertain the age of such child by such proof as 
may be in their power, and to insert such age in the order of 
commitment, and the age thus ascertained shall be deemed and 
taken to be the true age of such child. In case where the age of 
the child so committed is not so ascertained and inesrted in the or¬ 
der of commitment, or where the child is voluntarily surrendered 
under the provisions of this act, the said corporation, or its 
committee on admissions, indentures and discharges, shall, as 
soon as may be, after such child is received by them, as¬ 
certain the age of such child by such proof as may be in their 
power, and cause the same to be entered in a book to be des¬ 
ignated and kept by them for that purpose, and the age thus 
ascertained shall be deemed and taken to be the true age of 



200 


such child. The board of directors of said corporation, or its 
committee on admissions, indentures and discharges, shall have 
power to adminsiter oaths or affirmations to such person or 
persons as may appear before such board or committee to give 
information touching the age of such child, or concerning the 
indenturing, discharge or transfer of children under this act. 

Laws of 1851, ch. 832, § 18, as amended Laws 1866, ch. 245. 


§ 19. No person receiving an apprentice under the provisions of 
this act, shall be at liberty to assign or transfer the indenture 
of apprenticeship, or to let out or hire for any period the 
services of such apprentice, without the consent, in writing, of 
the directors of this corporation. In case the master of such 
apprentice shall be dissatisfied with his or her conduct or be¬ 
havior, or for any other cause, may desire to be relieved from 
said contract, upon application, the said directors may, in their 
discretion, cancel the said indenture of apprenticeship, and 
resume the charge and management of the child so apprenticed, 
and shall have the same power and authority in regard to it, 
as before the said indenture was made. 

Laws of 1851, ch. 332, § 19. 


§ 20. If any master shall be guilty of any cruelty, misusage, 
refusal or neglect to furnish necessary provisions or clothing, 
or any other violations of the terms of indenture or contract 
towards any such child so bound to service, such child may 
make complaint thereof to the board of directors of this corpo¬ 
ration, or to two justices of the peace of the county in which 
such child is so bound to service, or to the mayor, recorder, or 
aldermen of any city in which such child is bound to service, 
or to any two of them, who shall summon the parties before 
them, and examine into, hear, and determine the said com¬ 
plaint ; and, if upon such examination the said complaint shall 
appear well founded, they shall, by certificate under their 
hands, discharge such child from his obligation of service, and 




201 


restore him or her to the charge and management of this corpo¬ 
ration in the same manner, and with like powers as before the 
indenture of such child. 

Laws of 1851, ch. 332, § 20. 


§ 21. No person shall accept from any journeyman or ap¬ 
prentice, indentured as aforesaid, any contract or agreement, 
nor cause him or her to be bound by oath or otherwise during 
his or her term of service, that such journeyman or apprentice 
shall not set up his or her trade, profession, or employment in 
any particular place, shop or cellar ; nor shall any person exact 
from any journeyman or apprentice, after his or her term of 
service is expired, any money or other thing for using or exer¬ 
cising his or her trade, profession or employment in any place. 

Laws of 1851, ch. 332, § 21. 


§ 22. Every security given contrary to the provisions con¬ 
tained in the last preceding section of this act, shall be void, 
and any money paid or valuable thing delivered for the con¬ 
sideration, in part or in whole, of any such agreement or ex¬ 
action may be recovered back with interest, by the person 
paying the same; and every person accepting such agree¬ 
ment, causing such obligations to be entered into, or exacting 
money or other thing as aforesaid, shall forfeit one hundred 
dollars to the apprentice or journeyman from whom the same 
shall have been received. 

Laws of 1851, ch. 332, § 22. 


§ 23. Upon the death of any master to whom any child may 
have been bound (o service, under the provisions of this act, 
the executors or administrators of such master may, with the 
■consent of the child so bound to service, signified in writing, 
.acknowledged and approved by the board of directors of this 





202 


corporation, assign the indenture or contract of such service 
to some other person, which assignment shall transfer to and 
vest in such assignee all the rights of the original master, and 
also make him subject to all his obligations. 

Laws of 1851, ch. 332,.§ 23. 


§ 24. The board of directors of this corporation shall be 
the guardians of every child, bound or held for service, by 
virtue and in pursuance of the provisions of this act. They 
shall take care that the terms of the contract be faithfully ful¬ 
filled, and that such person be properly treated; and it is 
hereby made their special duty to inquire into the treatment 
of every such child, and redress any grievance in manner pre¬ 
scribed by law. And it shall be the duty of the master or his 
assignee, to whom any such child shall be bound to service, 
and he shall, by'the terms of the indenture, be required, as 
often as once in every six months, to report to the said board 
of directors the conduct and behavior of the said apprentice 
or child so bound to service, and whether such apprentice is 
still living under the care of the person to whom he was origi¬ 
nally bound, and, if not, where else he may be. 

Laws of 1851, ch. 332, § 24. 


§ 25. The board of directors of the said corporation shall, 
on or before the fourth Monday in January, in each and every 
year, make a detailed report to the Legislature of the State 
and to the Common Council of the city of New York, of the 
whole number of children received into the asylum during the 
year, specifying their sex, place of nativity, age, residence 
health at the time of admission, state of education, religious 
instruction, whether their parents are living or dead, temperate 
or intemperate, the time devoted to instruction, the nature and 
amount of punishment, the cases of disease, the number ap¬ 
prenticed or who shall have escaped, died, or been restored to 
parents or guardians, or returned to the committing magistrate 
during the year, and also such information as they may have 


\ 




203 


received of those who have been bound out or apprenticed, as 
well as the facts generally in relation to the performance of 
their duties, also their industrial occupations, with their results, 
the receipts and expenditures and financial condition of the 
corporation and its general operations, with their results. 

Laws of 1851, ch. 332, § 25, as amended by Laws of 1854, ch. 387. 


§ 26. It shall be the duty of the Common Council of the 
city of New York, by committee or otherwise, in its discretion 
to visit and inspect the said New York Juvenile Asylum twice 
at least in each year. 

Laws, 1851, ch. 332, § 26. 


§§ 27-31. Eelate to the resources and building of the asylum 
and its right to participate in the school fund. 


New York Catholic Protectory. 

Asylum located at Fordham. 

§ 1. Felix Xngoldsby, Charles A. Stetson, Eugene Kelly, 
Charles M. Connolly, Daniel Devlin, Andrew Carrigan, L. 
Siliiman Ives, Edward C. Donnelly, Edward Frith, Henry J. 
Anderson, Joseph Fisher, Eugene Pluuket, John McMenomy, 
Donatien Binsse, Lewis J. White, John O’Brien, John Milhau, 
Bernard Amend, John E. Devlin, Stephen J. Pliilbin, Florencio 
Escalante, John O’Connor, Henry L. Hoguet, James Lynch, 
Frederick E. Gilbert, Daniel O’Connor, and their successors, 
are hereby constituted a boJy corporate by the name of “ The 
Society for the Protection of Destitute Eoman Catholic Chil¬ 
dren in the city of New York,” and by that name shall have 
the powers which by the third title of the eighteenth chapter 
of the first part of the Bevised Statutes are declared to belong 
to corporations, and shall have power to take real and per¬ 
sonal estate by gift, devise or bequest, subject to the limitations 
prescribed by law ; but the annual income of such corporation 
shall not exceed the sum of twenty thousand dollars, nor be 
applied to any other purposes than those provided for by this 
act. 


Laws of 1863, ch. 448, §1. 






204 


§ 2. Tlie affairs of the said corporation shall be managed 
and conducted by a board of twenty-six managers, and the 
persons named in the first section of this act, as corporators, 
shall be the first board of managers of the said society. All 
vacancies which may happen in the board of managers shall 
be filled by an election to be held for that purpose, under such 
regulations as may be provided for by the by-laws of the said 
corporation, at which all male persons of full age, who shall 
have contributed within the previous year at least ten dollars 
to the funds of the corporation, shall be entitled to one vote 
either personally or by proxy. Public notice of the time and 
place at which such election shall be held shall be given for at 
least fifteen days previously thereto, by publication in at least 
4wo daily newspapers published in said city. 

Laws of 1863, ch. 448, § 2. 


§ 3. At all the meetings of the managers such number of 
members of the board as shall, from time to time, be fixed by 
the by-laws, shall form a quorum for the transaction of ordinary 
business, but no purchase or conveyance of real estate, nor 
removal from or appointment to office, nor election of officers, 
or to fill a vacancy in the corporation, shall be made, nor any 
by-law be adopted, amended or repealed without the presence 
of one-third of the managers. 

Laws of 1863, ch. 448, § 3, as amended by Laws 1871, ch. 

83, and Laws of 1875, ch. 218. 


§ 4. The said managers may procure suitable building sites 
and lands, and erect and maintain thereon an asylum wfith its 
requisite buildings for such children as, under this act, may be 
in the care of said corporation, and, until the permanent asylum 
shall be completed for use, the said managers may procure 
such temporary accommodations as may be necessary for their 
^purposes. 


Laws of 1863, ch. 448, § 4. 




205 


§ 5. Sucli corporation may take and receive into its care : 

1. Children under the age of fourteen years, who, by con¬ 
sent in writing of their parents or guardians, may be entrusted 
to it for protection or reformation. 

2. Children between seven and fourteen 3 T ears of age who 
may be committed to the care of such corporation as idle, 
truant, vicious or homeless children, by order of any magistrate 
in the city of New York, empowered by law to make committal 
of children for anj 7 such cause ( 1 ). 

3. Children of the like age who may be transferred at the 
option of the Commissioners of Public Charities and Correc¬ 
tion, of the city of New York, to such corporation. 

Laws of 1863, ch. 448, § 5. 

(’) A magistrate may commit a child to this institution upon the testimony of 
the mother, that the child absents herself from home without consent, disregards 
lawful commands, and is bad and ungovernable. 

An error in the commitment of the magistrate in designating another institution, 
when he in reality committed the child to this institution, may be cured by a new 
commitment. 

Matter of Barre, 14 Abb. Pr. R., N. S., 426. 


§ 6. The said corporation shall have power to place the 
children in their care at suitable employments, and cause them 
to be instructed in suitable branches of useful knowledge, and 
shall have power, at discretion, to bind out the said children, 
with their consent, as apprentices or servants, during minority 
or any less period, to such persons, and at such places, to learn 
such proper trades and employments as shall be judged most 
conducive to the future benefit and advantage of such children; 
and any person to whom any such child may be bound, shall 
execute a bond to the said corporation in a sufficient penal 
amount, conditioned for the good treatment of such child, and 
to instruct, or cause to have him or her instructed in leading, 
writing and arithmetic, and to give such child, at the expiration 
of his or her apprenticeship, at least one suit of new clothes 
and five dollars in money; and the said corporation may insert 
in the indentures of apprenticeship such clauses and agree- 





206 


inenfcs as tlie poor officers, authorized to bind out children, are 
•empowered or required to insert in like indentures ( 1 ). 

Laws of 1863, ch. 448, § 6. 

( ] ) An indenture which does not require the master to teach his apprentice a 
trade, dec., but simply to clothe, educate and feed him, is void. 

Matter of Barre, 14 Abb. Pr. R. N. Y., 426. 


§ 7. Children intrusted to this corporation by the voluntary 
act of their parents or guardians, shall be deemed to be in the 
lawful charge and custody of the said corporation; and such 
entrusting shall be evidenced by a writing in form substantially 
as follows, viz: 

“ I, A. B. father, (mother or guardian as the case may be), 
of C. D. (a boy or a girl), aged years, born in 

do hereby entrust to the ‘ New York Society for the Protection 
of Destitute Eoman Catholic Children in the City of New 
York ’ for the period of years, the entire charge, man¬ 

agement and control of the said C. D., and do hereby assign to 
and invest the said corporation with the same powers and con¬ 
trol over the said C. D., as those of which I am possessed. 
u In presence of 

Laws of 1863, ch. 448. § 7. 


§ 8. Whenever any child above the age of seven and under 
the age of fourteen years, shall be brought by any policeman 
of the city of New York before any magistrate of said city, 
upon the allegation that such child was found in any way, 
street, highway or public place in said city, in the circum¬ 
stances of want and suffering, or abandonment, exposure or 
neglect, or of beggary, specified or defined in the eighteenth 
section of the act entitled “ An Act relative to the powers of 
the Common Council of the city of New York and the police 
and criminal courts of said city,” passed January twenty-third, 
eighteen hundred and thirty-three 0, and it shall be proved to 




207 


the satisfaction of such magistrate, by competent testimony, 
that such child is embraced within the said section, and it shall 
further appear to the satisfaction of such magistrate by compe¬ 
tent testimony, or by the examination of the child, that, by 
reason of the neglect or vicious habits of the parents, or other 
lawful guardian of such child, it is a proper object for the care 
of this corporation, such magistrate, instead of committing such 
child to the alms-house of said city, or such other place, if 
any, as may have been provided by the Common Council 
thereof, in his discretion, by warrant in writing under his hand, 
may commit such child to this corporation, to be and remain 
under its care, until therefrom discharged in manner prescribed 
by law ; such commitment shall be by warrant, in substance as 
follows: 

“ To A. B., one of the policemen of the city of New York: 
You are hereby commanded to take charge of C. D., a child 
under the age of fourteen and above the age of seven years, who 
has been proved to me, by competent evidence, to be embraced 
within the eighteenth section of the act entitled ‘ An Act rela¬ 
tive to the powers of the Common Council of the city of New 
York, and the police and criminal courts of said city,’ approved 
January twenty-third, eighteen hundred and thirty-three, and 
who also appears to my satisfaction to be a proper object for 
the care of the corporation, created by an act entitled ‘An Act 
to incorporate the Society for the Protection of Destitute 
Boman Catholic Children in the city of New York,’ and to 
deliver the said child, without delay, to said corporation, at its 
House of Reception in this city, and, for so doing, this shall be- 
jour sufficient warrant. 

“ Dated this day of eighteen 

Laws of 1863, ch. 448, § 8. 

(>) For this law see page 141, et seq. 


§ 9. An order so made by any such magistrate, shall be exe¬ 
cuted by any policeman to whom it shall be delivered by the 
magistrate, by conveying the child therein named to the House 
of Reception to be established by this corporation, and such 




209 


child shall be detained in such house of reception until dis¬ 
charged or removed therefrom in the manner hereinafter pro¬ 
vided. 

Laws of 1863, ch. 448, § 9. 


§ 10. Immediately upon the making of any such order, the? 1 
magistrate making the same shall deliver to a policeman of 
the city, especially detailed for that service, a notice in writing 
addressed to the father of such child, if its father be living and 
resident within the city ; and, if not, then to its mother, if she 
be living and so resident, and, if there be no father or mother of 
such child resident within the city, then addressed to the law¬ 
ful guardian of such child, if any, or to the person with whom, 
according to the examination of the child, and the testimony, 
if any, received by such magistrate, such child shall reside, in 
which notice the party to whom the same is addressed shall be 
informed of the commitment of such child to the House of Re¬ 
ception of this corporation, and shall be notified that, unless 
taken therefrom in the manner prescribed by law, within twenty 
days after the service of such notice, the child therein named 
will be committed to the asylum of this corporation. 

Laws of 1863, ch. 448 § 10. 


§ 11. Such notice shall be served by the policeman detailed 
for that service, by delivering the same to the party to whom it 
shall have been addressed, .personally, or by leaving it with 
some person of sufficient age, at the place of residence or busi¬ 
ness of such party ; and it shall be the duty of such police¬ 
man immediately to report the fact, and the time and manner 
of such service, to the magistrate, and enter in a book to be 
provided for that purpose, and kept at the House of Reception of 
said corporation the fact of having served such notice, the time 
and manner of such service ; and the record of such fact shall, 
in all cases, be evidence of the proper service of such notice. 




209 


Whenever, after careful and diligent search and inquiry, the 
policeman, whose duty it was to serve the notice above de¬ 
scribed, shall not have found either the father, mother, legal 
guardian or person with whom, according to the examination of 
the child, and the testimony, if any, received by such magis¬ 
trate such child shall have resided, it shall be the duty of the 
superintendent of the House of Reception to cause the follow¬ 
ing notice, with blanks properly filled up, to be posted up in a 
conspicuous place in the police station house nearest the 
alleged residence of the child, viz. : 

Notice.— This is to certify, that a child of about 

the age of years hair eyes complexion 

in height, and said to be of 
descent, was on the day of eighteen 

committeed by to the House of Reception of “ The 

Society for the Protection of Destitute Roman Catholic Chil¬ 
dren in the city of New York,” and that after careful search and 
inquiry made by , neither the parent, legal guardians, 

nor persons with whom said is alleged to have re¬ 

sided can be found. 

New York, eighteen 

Superintendent. 

And the posting of said notice, as above required, shall be 
deemed as equivalent to having duly served it on the parent or 
guardian or person -with whom the child alleged he or she has 
resided, in cases where they or either of them could be 
found. 

Laws of 1863, ch. 448, § 11. 


§ 12. If the party to whom any such notice shall have been 
addressed, or any other person, shall within the time therein 
specified, prove to the satisfaction of the committing magis¬ 
trate, that the circumstances of want and suffering, or other 
circumstances above described, under which such child shall 
have been found, have not been occasioned by the habitual 
neglect or misconduct of the parents or lawful guardian of such 
child, then it shall be the duty of such magistrate, by order in 
14 



2 10 


writing, addressed to the superintendent of the House of Re¬ 
ception of this corporation, to direct such superintendent to de¬ 
liver such child to the custody of the party named in such 
order, who shall thereupon be entitled to take such child from 
the said House of Reception. 

Laws of 1863, ch. 448, § 12. 


§ 13. If such proof shall not be produced within the time 
above prescribed, it shall be the duty of the magistrate by 
whom the child shall have been committed to the House of Re¬ 
ception, to make and transmit to the superintendent thereof a 
notice in writing to that effect, and thereupon the child named 
in such notice shall be removed from such House of Reception 
to the. asylum of this corporation. Whenever the parent, 
guardian, or next of kin of any child between the ages of seven 
and fourteen years, about to be finally committed for any of 
the causes specified in the preceding sections of this act, shall 
request the magistrate to commit such child to said corpora¬ 
tion, it shall be the duty of such magistrate so to commit such 
child. 

Laws of 1863, ch. 448, § 13. 


§ 14. If, at any time, after a child shall have been committed 
to the said corporation, as above provided for in this act, it 
shall be made to appear to the satisfaction of the said corpora¬ 
tion that such child was, on insufficient cause, false or deficient 
testimony, or otherwise wrongfully or improvidently so com¬ 
mitted, the corporation shall, on the application of the parents, 
guardians, or other protector of such child, discharge the child 
from the said asylum, and restore it to such parents, guardian, 
or protector ; and, also, if after a child shall have been pro¬ 
perly committed to the said corporation, by virtue and in pur¬ 
suance of the provisions of this act, any circumstances should 
occur, that, in the judgment of the said corporation, would ren- 




211 


der expedient and proper a discharge of such child from the 
;said asylum, having a due regard to the welfare of the child, 
■the said corporation, on the application of the parents, guar¬ 
dian, or protector of such child, may, at discretion, discharge 
the child from the said asylum, and restore it to its parents, 
■guardian, or protector, on such reasonable conditions as the 
.said corporation may deem right and proper. 

Laws of 1863, ch. 448, § 14. 


§ 15. Whenever any child intrusted or committed to the 
'charge of said corporation shall, by the commission of any in¬ 
famous crime, or by confirmed evil habits, have become so 
degraded and debased, in the opinion of the said corporation, 
as to be an improper subject for its care, the said corporation 
shall have the power to return such child to the committing 
magistrate, or other proper authorities, to be disposed of in 
due course of law. 

Laws of 1863, ch. 448, § 15. 


§ 16. This corporation shall be the guardian of every child 
bound or held for service, by virtue and in pursuance of the 
provisions of this act. It shall take care that the terms of the 
contract be faithfully fulfilled, and that such person be pro¬ 
perly treated ; and it isliereb} T made its special duty to inquire 
into the treatment of every such child, and redress any griev¬ 
ance in manner prescribed by law. And it shall be the duty 
of the master or his assignee to whom any such child shall be 
bound to service, and he shall, by the terms of the indenture, 
be required, as often as once in every six months, to report to 
the said corporation the conduct and behavior of the said ap¬ 
prentice or child so bound to service, and whether such ap¬ 
prentice is still living under the care of the person to whom he 
was originally bound, and if not, where else he or she may be. 

Laws of 1863, ch. 448, §16. 





212 


§ 17. The said corporation shall, on or before the fourth? 
Monday of January, in each and every year, make a detailed 
report to the Legislature of the State, and to the Common 
Council of the city of New York, of the whole number of chil¬ 
dren received into the asylum during the year, specifying their 
name, sex, place of nativity, age, residence, health at the time 
of admission, religion of parents, state of education, religious 
instruction, whether their parents are living or dead, temperate 
or intemperate, the time devoted to instruction, the nature and 
amount of punishment, the cases of disease, the number ap¬ 
prenticed or who shall have escaped, died or been restored to 
parents or guardians, or returned to the committing magis¬ 
trate during the year, and also such information as may have 
been received of those who have been bound out or appren¬ 
ticed, as well as the facts generally in relation to the perform¬ 
ance of their duties, also their industrial occupations, with the 
results thereof, the receipts and expenditures and financial, 
condition of the corporation and its general operations, with 
the results thereof. 

Laws of 1863, ch. 448, § \1. 


§ 18. It shall be the duty of the Common Council of the city 
of New York by committee or otherwise, in its discretion, to 
visit and inspect the said asylum of said corporation twice at 
least in each year, and the Mayor, Recorder and Comptroller 
of said city shall be ex-officio managers of the said institution. 

Laws of 1863, ch. 448, §18. 


§ 1. The name of the corporation incorporated, organ¬ 
ized, and in operation under and pursuant to the act passed 
May fifth, eighteen hundred and sixty-three, entitled, “An Act 
to incorporate the Society for the Protection of Destitute 
Roman Catholic Children in the City of New York,” is hereby 
changed to, and shall hereafter be, “ The New York Catholic 
Protectory ; provided always, that all gifts, legacies, bequests 




213 


^nd devises to the said corporation, in or by tlie corporate name 
by which it was known previous to the passage of this act, con¬ 
tained in any last will and testament heretofore or hereafter 
made, shall be as effectual and valid to all intents and purposes 
as though made or given to the said corporation by or under its 
name, as changed by this section. 

Laws of 1871, ch. 83, § 1. 


§ 3. Nothing in this act contained shall in any manner affect 
any action now pending, or right of action accrued. 

Laws of 1871, ch. 83, § 3 


§ 2. The Court of Special Sessions of the Peace in and for 
the city and county of New York is hereby authorized and 
•empowered to commit to the care of such corporation, children 
between seven and fourteen years of age, as idle, truant, 
vicious or homeless children, in the same manner and under 
the same circumstances as any magistrate in the city of New 
York is, by said act, authorized and empowered to commit 
such children thereto, and all the provisions of said act in ref¬ 
erence to the committal or discharge of such children by any 
magistrate in the city of New York, or the return of any child 
to the committing magistrate, are hereby made applicable to 
tthe said Court of Special Sessions of the Peace in and for the 
«city and county of New York. 

Laws of 1875, ch. 218, § 2. 


New York Infant Asylum. 

House of Reception—24 Clinton Place. 

Asylum—Sixty-first Street and Tenth Avenue. 

Country Home—Flushing, Long Island. 

§ 1. Edward Delafield, M. D., Charles Ely, Earl Douglas, 
lEbenezer P. Rogers, D. D., Henry E. Montgomery, D. D., 






214 


Richard F. Carman, Stephen Smith, M. D., John David Wolfe,, 
James F. De Peyster, Willard Parker, M. D., George Jones,.. 
Joel Foster, M. D., William C. Prime, and their associates and 
successors, are hereby constituted a body corporate, by the 
name of the New York Infant Asylum, and by that name shall 
have and possess all the powers and privileges, and be subject 
to the provisions and restrictions prescribed and specified in 
title three, chapter eighteen, part one of the Revised Statutes,, 
and shall have power to take real and personal estate by 
gift, devise, demise, bequest, or purchase; but such real estate 
shall not exceed the yearly value of twenty thousand dollars,, 
nor shall the property or income of such corporation be ap¬ 
plied or appropriated to any purpose other than is specified in* 
this act. 

Laws of 1865, cli. 106, § 1. 


§ 2. The objects of said corporation are to receive and take* 
charge of foundlings and other infant children of the age of 
two years and under, which may be intrusted to their charge,, 
as hereinafter specified, and to provide for their support, and 
moral, physical, intellectual, and industrial education ; also to- 
provide such lying-in wards and methods of care and guidance^ 
as shall tend to prevent the maternal abandonment of homeless, 
infants, and diminish the moral dangers and personal sufferings, 
to which homeless mothers are exposed. 

Laws of 1865, ch. 106, § 2, as amended Laws 1872, ch. 263, § 1_ 


§ 3. The property, business and affairs of said corporation* 
shall be managed by a board of at least seventeen members, andii. 
the persons named in the first section of this act, together with, 
the ex-officio members hereinafter named, shall constitute the-; 
first board of managers. All vacancies which may happen in 
the board, excepting of ex-officio members, shall be filled by 
the board at an election to be held for that purpose, under 
such regulations as may be prescribed in the by-laws of the* 
corporation. The members constituting the board of man- 




215 


agers may be, at any time, increased, by vote of the board, 
at a meeting duly called for that purpose, provided, however, 
that said board shall not be increased so as to consist of more 
than thirty members. The Mayor of the city of New York, the 
president of the Board of Supervisors of the city and county, 
the president of the Board of Commissions of Public Charities 
and Correction of said city and county of New York, and the 
president of the Board of Police, for the time being, shall be 
ex-officio managers of the said corporation. 

Laws of 1865, ch. 106, § 3, as amended Laws of 1872, ch. 

263, § 2. 


§ 4. At all meetings of the managers five members shall con¬ 
stitute a quorum lor the transaction of ordinary business, but 
no purchase, sale, or other disposition of real estate, nor ap¬ 
pointment or removal of any officer of the corporation, nor 
election to fill a vacancy in the board, nor any contract involv¬ 
ing an expenditure of more than five hundred dollars shall be 
made nor shall the number constituting the board of man¬ 
agers be increased, nor any by-law be adopted, amended or 
repealed, without the presence of a majority of the managers. 

Laws of 1865, ch. 106, § 4. 


§ 5. The said corporation shall have the power to procure or 
erect and maintain, either within the city of New York, or in 
some other suitable and convenient place within the State of 
New York, and distant not more than thirty miles from the 
city of New York, a suitable building or buildings for an 
asylum for such children as may be entrusted to and received by 
them agreeably to the provisions of this act; and shall have 
power also to procure or erect and maintain, within the city of 
New York, a House of Reception where such children may be 
first received and temporarily accommodated. Whenever any 
child shall be received by the said corporation in such House 
of Reception, under the provisions of section eight of this act, 
it shall not be lawful for said corporation, within the period of 



216 


thirty days next succeeding, to place such child in their 
asylum; but such child shall remain in said House of Reception 
for said period of thirty days, unless sooner discharged and 
removed agreeably to the provisions of this act. 

Laws of 1865, ch. 106, § 5. 


§ 6. The said corporation may receive and take under its 
care and management: 

1. Children of the age of two years, or under, found in the 
city of New York abandoned or deserted, as hereinafter 
specified. 

2. Children of like age, born out of wedlock, who, by con¬ 
sent in writing of the mother, may be entrusted to said cor¬ 
poration. 

3. Children of like age, whose father or whose mother is 
dead, and whose surviving parent is, from any cause, unable 
to maintain them, and who, by consent in writing of such 
surviving parent, may be entrusted to said corporation. 

4. Children of like age, whose parents are, from any cause, 
unable to maintain them, and who, by consent in writing of 
the father, or, in case the father shall have been legally 
declared an habitual drunkard or a lunatic, or shall be im¬ 
prisoned on conviction of crime, or shall have been legally 
declared to have abandoned his family, then, by the consent in 
writing of the mother, may be entrusted to said corporation. 

5. Children of like age, having no parent living, and who, 
by consent in writing of their guardian, .or nearest relative of 
full age, may be entrusted to said corporation. 

6. Children of like age, who may be transferred and en¬ 
trusted to said corporation by the Commissioners of Public 
Charities and Correction of the city and county of New York. 

Laws of 1865, chap. 106, § 6. 


§ 7. Children entrusted to said corporation by the voluntary 
act of their parents, guardian or nearest relations, as herein¬ 
before provided, shall be deemed to be in the lawful charge 



217 


and custody of said corporation. Such entrusting shall be 
made and evidenced by an instrument in writing, in form sub¬ 
stantially as follows, viz. : I, A. B. (father, mother, guardian or 
nearest relative, as the case may be), of a (male or female, as 
the case may be), infant child; aged, named, (or 

not named, as the case may be), born at , do 

hereby surrender and entrust to the New York Infant Asylum, 
for the period of years, the entire management and 

•control of such child, and do hereby assign to and invest said 
corporation with the same powers and control over said child 
-as the those of which I am possessed. 

Laws of 1865, ch. 106, § 7. 


§ 8. Whenever any child of the age of two years or under, 
•shall be found on any street, avenue, highway, lane, alley, 
public place, dock, pier, vacant lot or yard, or in any vacant 
•or uninhabited room, house, tenement, shed or building of any 
kind in the city of New York, abandoned or deserted, it shall 
Be lawful for any policemen or other person so finding such 
child to take, or cause the same to be taken, to the House of 
Reception that may be provided by said corporation in the city 
of New York, and place such child in the custody of such cor¬ 
poration, thereupon making and subscribing, in a register to 
Be kept for that purpose, in said House of Reception by said 
corporation, an entry in writing describing such child as nearly 
-as may be, and setting forth with particularity the time and 
place, when and where, with the name and residence of the 
person by whom such child was so found abandoned or de¬ 
serted. 

Laws of 1865, ch. 106, § 8. 


§ 9. The said corporation shall immediately thereupon cause 
•a notice, substantially in the following form, with the blanks 
properly filled and subscribed by the superintendent of the 
said House of Reception, to be furnished to the Metropolitan 
'Police Commissioners, who shall cause the same to be posted 
in each of the police station houses in said city, viz.: 




218 


Notice. —This is to certify, that a child of about the age of 
, hair , eyes , color , was on the 

clay of , 18 , found in the city of New York, 

abandoned or deserted, and has been placed in the custody of 
the New York Infant Asylum, and unless reclaimed, according 
to law, within thirty days, such child will remain in the charge 
and custody of said corporation. 

Dated , 18 . Superintendent- 

Laws of 1865, ch. 106, § 9. 


§ 10. If, within said period of thirty days after such notice- 
shall have been so posted, any person claiming to be the 
parent or lawful guardian of such child shall make oath thereof 
before some magistrate of the city of New York, such magis¬ 
trate shall thereupon issue a summons to said corporation to 
appear before him, at a time and place to be-specified, not less 
than two nor more than four days from the service thereof, to- 
attend the hearing of said claim for such child ; and with said 
summons shall be served a copy of the affidavit so made be¬ 
fore said magistrate. Upon the hearing, if the claimant shall 
establish by competent testimony, to the satisfaction of the 
magistrate, that such claimant is the parent or lawful guardian 
of such child, such magistrate shall thereupon make an order 
for the delivery of such child to such claimant. And the said 
claimant may thereupon remove the said child from the cus¬ 
tody of the said corporation; provided, however, that if it shall 
satisfactorily appear to such magistrate that such claimant,, 
from habitual drunkenness, or other vicious or depraved habits 
or mode of life, or from indigence or lunacy, or other cause, is 
an unfit or improper person to have the care and custody of 
such child, he shall thereupon dismiss the said claim, and 
remand such child to the care and custody of said corpora¬ 
tion. And in case, upon the hearing, the claimant shall fail to 
establish, by competent testimony, to the satisfaction of the- 
magistrate, that such claimant is the parent or lawful guardian 
of such child, then such magistrate shall thereupon dismiss, 
the claim, and remand the child to the care and custody of 
said corporation. 

Laws of 1865 ch. 106, § 10. 



219 


§ 11. In case no such claim shall be made within said period 
of thirty days, or being made within that period shall be dis¬ 
missed by the magistrate, then such child shall remain and be 
c eerned to be in the lawful care and custody of the said corpo¬ 
ration, if a female, until the age of eighteen years, and if a male 
until the age of twenty-one years, unless sooner discharged by 
said corporation as hereinafter provided. 

Laws of 1865, ch. 106. § 11. 


§ 12. If, at any time within three years after any child, SO' 
found abandoned or deserted as aforesaid, shall have been en¬ 
trusted to the custody of said corporation as above, provided 
it shall appear to the satisfaction of the board of managers, 
or any justice of the Supreme Court or county judge, that such 
child was, for any cause, wrongfully or improvidently so en¬ 
trusted, the said board shall thereupon, on the application of 
the parents or guardian of said child, discharge the said 
child, and restore it to such parents and guardian. And in 
case, at any time after such abandoned or deserted child shall 
have been intrusted to said corporation, it shall appear to the 
board of managers, having due regard to the welfare of such 
child and the purpose of said corporation, expedient or proper 
to discharge such child, the said board of managers may, in 
their discretion, thereupon discharge such child, and restore 
it to its parents, guardian, or other protector on such reason¬ 
able terms and conditions as the said board may deem right 
and proper. 

Laws of 1865, ch. 106, § 12. 


§ 13. Whenever any child being in the custody of the said 
corporation .shall, by the commission of any crime or by con¬ 
firmed evil habits, have become so degraded or debased as, in 
the opinion of the board of managers, to be an improper sub¬ 
ject for the care and management of said corporation, the said 






220 


corporation shall have the power to deliver such child into the 
custody of some magistrate or other competent authority of the 
city and county of New York, to be disposed of in due course 
of law. 

Laws of 1865, ch. 106, § 13. 


§ 14. The said corporation shall have the power, when the 
children in their care shall respectively attain a proper age, to 
procure the adoption of suitable foster parents of such chil¬ 
dren as may properly be so adopted out, to place them at suit¬ 
able employments, and cause them to be instructed in suitable 
branches of knowledge, and at discretion to bind out or inden¬ 
ture such children, when of suitable ages, as clerks, apprentices 
or servants, to some profession, trade or employment, for such 
lime or period as they may deem proper, not exceeding how¬ 
ever, in the case of girls, to the age of eighteen, and in the case 
of boys to the age of twenty-one years, provided, however, that 
in the case of children voluntary entrusted to said corporation 
by their parents, guardians or nearest relatives, as hereinbefore 
provided, the said corporation shall not bind out or indenture 
any such child for a period beyond the time for which such 
children have been entrusted to said corporation. 

Laws of 1865, ch. 106, § 14; as amended Laws of 1872, ch. 263, § 3. 


§ 15. No person to whom any child shall have been bound 
to service under the provisions of this act, or his executors, 
administrators or assigns, shall assign or transfer the indenture 
or contract of service to any other person, nor let or hire out 
for any period the services of such child, without the consent 
in writing of said corporation ; and upon granting any such 
■consent, the said corporation may prescribe and impose any 
terms and conditions they may deem reasonable and proper; 
and every such assignment, when duly made with consent as 
.aforesaid, shall have the effect to transfer to, and vest in, the 




221 


assignee all the rights of the original master ; and such assignee 
shall be subject to all the duties and obligations of such origi¬ 
nal master. 

Laws of 1866, ch. 106, § 16. 


§16. In case of the death of any master to whom any child 
shall have been bound to service under the provisions of this 
act, or in case of the death of the assignee of any such master, 
then such death shall have the effect to cancel and annul the 
indenture or contract of service; and thereupon the said cor¬ 
poration shall resume the charge and management of such 
child, and have the same power and authority with regard to it 
as before the indenture or contract of service was made. 

Laws of 1866, ch. 106, § 16. 


§ 17. Any indenture or contract of service by which any child 
shall have been bound out under the provisions of this act, 
may, by the mutual consent of the master or the assignee and 
the said corporation, be canceled and annulled upon such 
terms and conditions as may be mutually agreed upon, and 
thereupon the said corporation shall resume the charge and 
management of such child, and have the same power and au¬ 
thority with regard to it as before the indenture or contract of 
service was made. 

Laws of 1866, ch. 106, § 17. 


§ 18. If any master or assignee shall be guilty of any cruelty 
or misusage towards any child so bound out to service under the 
provisions of this act, or shall refuse or neglect to furnish and 
provide proper food and clothing to such child, or shall commit 
any other breach or violation of the terms of the indenture or 
contract of service under which such child is held, such child, 



222 


or any person in its behalf, may make complaint thereof to the 
board of managers of the said corporation, or to a justice of 
the Supreme Court, or to some justice of the peace of the 
county where such child is held to service, or to the mayor, re¬ 
corder or an '‘alderman, or any other magistrate of any city 
where such child is so held to service, who shall thereupon 
summon the said master or assignee to appear before them or 
’him, and shall examine into, hear and determine such com¬ 
plaint ; and if, upon such hearing, the said complaint shall ap¬ 
pear to be well founded, they or he shall, by certificate in writ¬ 
ing, discharge such child from the obligation of service, and 
restore such child to the charge and custody of said corpora¬ 
tion, and with the like powers as before the said indenture or 
contract of service was made; and the said master or assignee 
shall also be liable to the said corporation, in a civil action, 
for the breach of the agreement. 

Laws of 1865, ch. 106, § 18. 


§ 19. The board of managers of the said corporation shall 
be the guardian of every child bound out or held for service 
under the provisions of this act, and shall see that the terms 
of the contract be faithfully performed by the master or 
assignee, and that such child is properly treated. And they 
shall enquire into the treatment of such child and redress any 
grievance in manner prescribed by law. 

Laws of 1865, ch. 106, § 19. 


§ 20. Every master or assignee to whom any child shall be 
bound or held to service under the provisions of this act, shall, 
at least once in every six months during such term of service, 
report in writing to the board of managers of the said corpora¬ 
tion the conduct or behavior of such child, and whether such 
child is still living under the care of the person to wdiom such 
child was originally bound, and if not, where, and with whom 


223 


such child is living. And all indentures and contracts of ser¬ 
vice made under this act shall, in terms, provide for such 
report being made. 

Laws of 1865, cli. 106, § 20. 


§ 21. All damages that may be recovered and received by 
said corporation of any master or assignee for the breach or 
violation of the indenture or contract of service by which any 
child shall be bound out under the provisions of this act, after 
deducting therefrom the necessary expenses of recovering and 
.collecting the same, shall be held by the said corporation in 
trust for, and paid over to, said child if a female, at the age 
of eighteen years, if a male, at the age of twenty-one years; 
piovided, however, that if such child shall die before attaining 
such age, the said damages shall revert and belong to the said 
corporation. 

Laws of 1865, eh. 106, § 21. 


§ 22. In each and every year after this act shall take effect, 
the Board of Supervisors of the city and county of New York 
•shall levy and collect by tax, at the same time and in the same 
manner as the contingent charges and expenses of the city and 
county are levied and collected, and pay over to said corpora¬ 
tion such a sum per week for every infant under eighteen months 
of age, for whose care some provision has not been made by 
some person or persons, as the Commissioners of Charities and 
Corrections shall certify to have been expended during the last 
ffscal year in the care and provision for the infants, per week, 
each, in the Infant’s Hospital, which is under the control of the 
said commissioners; and for every child over the age of 
eighteen months, such a sum per year, in monthly payments, 
as the said commissioners shall certify to have been expended 
as an average cost for maintenance and the hospital care of 
each child for a full year, at the institution known as the 
Nursery for Children, on Kandall’s Island, in the last previous 
fiscal year, as shown and reported by said commissioners: 




224 


And tlie said commissioners shall so inform and certify, upon 
the request of the managers of said asylum, on or before the 
]5th day of February in each year, and such certification shall 
be based upon the total expenditures charged and chargeable 
by the said commissioners against their said Infant’s Hospital 
and their said nursery (according to the ages of the children con- 
tinuiugin the house), and proportionally for any fraction of ayear 
for each and every child, which, agreeable to the provisions of 
this act, shall be intrusted to the care and custody of the said 
corporation from the city and county of New York, and shall be 
supported and maintained by them. It is further provided, 
that whenever any homeless or needy mother has received care 
and attendance in the lying-in wards of the New YY>rk Infant 
Asylum, the managers of said asylum shall be entitled to re¬ 
ceive and shall receive from the county treasurer, as herein¬ 
above provided, the sum of twenty-five dollars, for said care and 
obstetric attendance. And whenever any mother thus domi¬ 
ciled and attended at the birth of her child, and whenever 
any other homeless or needy mother with a nursing infant, 
resides at the asylum at the request of its officers, and wet 
nurses her own infant, the managers of said institution shall be 
entitled to receive and shall'receive from the county treasurer, 
the sum of eighteen dqllars per month, and proportionally for 
any fraction of a month, for each mother so remaining under 
their charge, in said asylum, provided such residence shall ex¬ 
ceed the period of two months, to be paid as hereinbefore pro¬ 
vided in monthly, quarterly or annual payments, as said mana¬ 
gers may request, but the managers of the said institution shall 
not be entitled to receive the said monthly allowance for a 
longer period than for one year for any mother so remaining. 

Laws of 1865, ch. 106, § 22, as amended Laws 1876, ch. 

213, § 1. 


§ 23. Whenever any child, properly chargeable upon the fund 
placed by law at the disposal of the Commissioners of Emigra¬ 
tion, shall, agreeable to the provisions of this act, be intrusted 
and supported and maintained by the said corporation, the said 




225 


corporation shall be entitled to receive from the fund, sums that 
are respective^ designated and determined by the provisions 
of the twenty-second section of this act, for the infants and 
children of the two classes of ages in the said section respec¬ 
tively named. 

Laws of 1865, ch. 106, § 23, as amended Laws of 1872, ch. 

263, § 5. 


§ 24. Schools may be established and maintained by the said 
corporation, and shall participate in the distribution of the 
common school fund, in the same manner and degree as the 
common schools of the city and county of New York, and the 
amount so distributed shall be paid to the board of managers 
of said corporation. 

Laws of 1865, ch. 106, § 24. 


§ 25. The board of managers of said corporation shall, on 
or before the fourth Monday in January, in each and every 
year, make to the Legislature and to the Board of Supervisors 
of the city and county of New York, a detailed report of the 
whole number of children received by the said corporation dur¬ 
ing the year preceding, specifying the age, sex, residence, place 
of nativity, and also the nationality of parents, when it can be 
ascertained, and whether the parents are living or dead, are 
temperate or intemperate ; and as to all the children in their 
charge during the preceding year, specifying the time devoted 
to instruction, the nature and amount of punishment, the cases 
of disease, the number apprenticed or bound out to service, the 
number escaped, the number of deaths, the number restored to 
parents or guardians, or otherwise discharged, and also such 
information as they may have received of the conduct of those 
who have been bound out or apprenticed, as well as the facts 
generally in relation to the performance of their duties by those 
at service ; also the industrial occupation and pursuits of those 
at service ; also the receipts, expenditures and financial condi¬ 
tion of the corporation, and its general operations, with their 
results. 

Laws of 1865, ch. 106, § 25. 

15 





226 


§ 26. The Asylum and House of Eeception of the said corpora¬ 
tion shall be subject to visitation and inspection by the Board 
of Supervisors of the city and county of New York, in any rea¬ 
sonable manner that may be directed by said Board of Super¬ 
visors ; and it shall be the duty of said Board of Supervisors to 
cause said Asylum and House of Eeception to be visited and in¬ 
spected at least twice in each year. 

Laws of 1865, ch. 106, § 26. 


§ 27. The board of managers of said corporation may receive 
children in said House of Eeception, similarly situated, from 
other counties in this State, upon such terms as may be agreed 
upon between them and the superintendents of the poor of such 
counties respectively. The superintendents of the poor in the 
several counties shall have the same power to send children, 
under such agreement, to said House of Eeception, as the said 
managers have under this act, and all the provisions of this act 
shall apply to the children of said counties. 

Laws of 1865, ch. 106, § 27. 


Foundling Asylum. 

Sixty-eighth Street and Third Avenue. 

Incorporated October 9, 1869, under the general law. 

§ 1. The Foundling Asylum of the Sisters of Charity of 
the city of New York, a corporation created, organized and 
acting under and by virtue of the laws of this State, are hereby 
authorized and empowered to receive and keep and take under 
its care, charge, custody and management, the following chil¬ 
dren or persons : 

1. Children of the age of two years or under, found in the 
city of New York abandoned or deserted, as hereinafter men¬ 
tioned and specified. 

2. Children of the like age, whose father or mother is dead, 
and whose surviving parent is for any cause unable to main¬ 
tain them, and who, by consent in writing of such surviving 
parent, may be entrusted to such corporation. 





227 


3. Children of the like age, born out of wedlock, who, by the 
• -consent of the mother, may be entrusted to the said corpora¬ 
tion ; which class shall also include children, whether born in 
wedlock or not, left in the crib or other receptacle of the said 
corporation for foundlings. 

4. Children of like age, having no parent living, and who, by 
consent in writing of their guardian, or nearest relative of full 
age, may be entrusted to said corporation. 

5. Children of like age, who may be transferred and entrusted 
to said corporation by the commissioners of Public Charities 
and Correction of the city and county of New York. 

6. The said corporation may also, with a view to health and 
nourishment of the child and reformation of the mother, re¬ 
ceive temporarily the mother of any such child, born out of 
wedlock, committed or entrusted as aforesaid, and discharge 
her ; provided, always, that such mother shall not be received 
or detained except at her own request, and by and during her 
free will and consent ( x ). 

Laws of 1872, ch. 635, § 1. 

{') Certain moneys reimbursed by the city. 

Laws of 1874, ch. 644. 


§ 2. Children entrusted to said corporation by the voluntary 
act of their parents, guardian or nearest relatives, as herein¬ 
before provided, shall be deemed to be in the lawful charge 
and custody of said corporation. Such entrusting shall be 
made and evidenced by an instrument in writing, in form sub¬ 
stantially as follows, viz : I, A. B. (father, mother, guardian or 
nearest relatives as the case may be), of a (male or female as 
the case may be), infant child, aged , 

named (or not named as the case 

may be), born at do hereby sur¬ 

render and entrust to the Foundling Asylum of the Sisters of 
•Charity in the city of New York, for the period of 
years, the entire management and control of such child, and do 
herebv assign to, and invest said corporation with the same 
powers and control over said child as those of which I am 
•.possessed. 


Laws of 1862, ch. 635, §2. 




228 


§ 3. Whenever any child, being in the custody of the said' 
corporation, shall, by the commission of any crime or by con¬ 
firmed evil habits, have become so degraded and debased as, in 
the opinion of the board of managers, to be an improper sub¬ 
ject for the care and management of said corporation, the said 
corporation shall have the power to deliver such child into the 
custody of some magistrate or other competent authority of 
the said city and county of New York, to be disposed of in due 
course of law. If, at any time within three years after any 
child so found abandoned or deserted as aforesaid^ shall have 
been entrusted to the custody of said corporation as above pro¬ 
vided, it shall appear to the satisfaction of the board of man¬ 
agers, that such child was for any cause wrongfully or impro- 
vidently so entrusted, the said board shall thereupon, on the 
application of the parents or guardian of said child, discharge 
the said child and restore it to such parent or guardian. And 
in case, at any time after such abandoned or • deserted child 
shall have been entrusted to said corporation, it shall appear to 
the board of managers having due regard to the welfare of 
such child and the purpose of said corporation, expedient or 
proper to discharge such child, the said board of managers 
may, in their discretion, thereupon discharge such child and 
restore it to its parents, guardian or other protector on such 
reasonable terms and conditions as the said board may deem 
right and proper. 

Laws of 1872, ch. 635, § 3. 


§ 4. The said corporation shall have the power, when the 
children in their care shall respectively attain a proper age, to 
place them at suitable employments, and cause them to be in¬ 
structed in suitable branches of knowledge, and, at discretion, 
to bind out or indenture such children, when of suitable ages, 
as clerks, apprentices or servants, to some profession, trade or 
employment, for such time or period as they may deem proper, 
not exceeding, however, in the case of girls, to the age of 
eighteen, and in the case of boys, to the age of twenty-one 
years ; provided, however, that in the case of children volun- 



229 


tarily entrusted to said corporation by tlieir parents, guardians 
or nearest relatives, as hereinbefore provided, the said corpor¬ 
ation shall not bind out or indenture any such child for a period 
foeyond the time for which such children have been entrusted 
to said corporation. 

Laws of 1872, ch. 635, §4. 


§ 5. No person, to whom any child shall have been bound to 
service under the provisions of this act, or his executors, ad¬ 
ministrators or assigns, shall assign or transfer the indenture or 
contract of service to any other person, nor let or hire out for 
any period the services of such child, without the consent, in 
writing, of said corporation ; and upon granting any such con¬ 
sent, the said corporation may prescribe and impose any terms 
and conditions they may deem reasonable and proper, and every 
such assignment, when duly made with consent as aforesaid, 
shall have the effect to transfer to and vest in the assignee all 
the rights of the original master ; and such assignee shall be 
subject to all the duties and obligations of such original master. 

Laws of 1872, chap. 635, § 5. 


§ 6. In ease of the death of any master to whom any 
child shall have been bound to service under the provisions of 
this act, or in case of the death of the assignee of any such 
master, then such death shall have the effect to cancel and 
annul the indenture or contract of service ; and thereupon the 
said corporation shall resume the charge and management of 
such child, and have the same power and authority with regard 
to it as before the indenture or contract of service was made. 

Laws of 1872, cliap, 635, § 6. 


| 7. If any master or assignee shall be guilty of any cruelty 
or misusage towards any child so bound out to service under 
ifche provisions of this act, or shall refuse or neglect to furnish 




230 


and provide proper food and clothing to such child, or shall 
commit any other breach or violation of the terms of the inden¬ 
ture or contract of service under which such child is held, such 
child, or any person in its behalf may make complaint thereof 
to the board of managers of the said corporation, or to a justice 
of the Supreme Court, or some justice of the peace of the- 
county where such child is held to service, or to the mayor,, 
recorder, or an alderman, or any other magistrate of any city 
where such child is so held to service, who shall thereupon 
summon the said master or assignee to appear before them or 
him, and shall examine into, hear and determine such com¬ 
plaint ; and if, upon such hearing, the said complaint shall 
appear to be well founded, they or he shall, by certificate,, 
in writing, discharge such child from the obligation of ser¬ 
vice, and restore such child to the charge and custody of 
said corporation, and with the like powers as before the said 
indenture and contract of service was made,* and the said 
master or assignee shall also be liable to the said corporation! 
in a civil action for the breach of the agreement. 

Laws of 1872, ch. 635, § 7. 


§ 8. The board of managers of the said corporation shall be* 
the guardian of every child bound out or held for service under 
the provisions of this act, and shall see that the terms of the 
contract be faithfully performed by the master or assignee,, 
and that such child is properly treated ; and they shall inquire 
into the treatment of such child and redress any grievance im 
manner prescribed by law. 

Laws of 1872, ch. 635, § 8. 


§ 9. Every master or assignee to whom any child shall be- 
bound or held to service under the provisions of this act, shall,, 
at least once in every six months during such term of ser¬ 
vice, report in writing to the board of managers of the said 
corporation the conduct or behavior of such child, and whether- 




231 


such child is still living under the care of the person to whom 
such child was originally bound, and if not, where and with 
whom such child is living, And all indentures and contracts 
of service made under this act shall in terms provide for such 
report being made. 

Laws of 1872, ch. 635, § 9. 


§ 10. All damages that may be recovered and received by 
said corporation of any master or assignee, for the breach or 
violation of the indenture or contract of service by which any 
child shall be bound out under the provisions of this act, after 
deducting therefrom the necessary expenses of recovering and 
collecting the same, shall be held by the said corporation in 
trust for, and paid over to said child ; if a female, at the age 
of eighteen years, and if a male, at the age of twenty-one 
years; provided, however, that if such child shall die before 
attaining such age, the said damages shall revert and belong 
to the said corporation. 

Laws of 1872, ch. 635, § 10. 


§ 11. Whenever any child, properly chargeable upon the 
fund placed by law at the disposal of the Commissioners of 
Emigration, shall, agreeably to the provisions of this act, be 
entrusted to and supported and maintained by the said corpo¬ 
ration ; the said corporation shall be entitled to receive from 
the fund the sum of sixty, seventy-five or one hundred dollars 
per annum (according to the ages of such children, respectively) 1 
and proportionately for any portion of the year for every such 
chi^d; provided, however, that in no case shall the sum so to* 
be received, exceed the lowest cost of the support and govern¬ 
ment of a child of like age in any of the public institutions at 
present under the care of the Commissioners of Public Chari¬ 
ties and Correction of said city and county of New York. 

Laws of 1872, ch. 635, §11. 







232 


§ 12. In each and every year, after this act shall take effect* 
the Board of Supervisors of the city and county of New York, 
shall levy and collect by tax, at the same time and in the same 
manner as the contingent charges and expenses of the city and 
county are levied and collected, and pay over to the said cor¬ 
poration such a sum per week for every infant under eighteen 
months of age, as the Commissioners of Charities and Correc¬ 
tions shall certify to have been expended during the last pre¬ 
vious fiscal year in the care and provision for the infants, per 
week, each, in the Infants’ Hospital which is under the control 
of the said commissioners ; and for every child over the age of 
eighteen months, such a sum per year, in monthly payments, as 
the said commissioners shall certify to have been expended as 
an average cost for maintenance and the hospital care of each 
child for a full year at the institution known as the Nursery for 
Children, on Randall’s Island, in the last previous fiscal year, 
as shown and reported by the said commissioners. And the said 
commissioners shall so inform and certify upon the request of the 
managers of said asylum, on or before the fifteenth day of May 
in each year, and such certification shall be based upon the 
total expenditures charged and chargeable by the said commis¬ 
sioners against their said Infants’ Hospital and their said nursery 
(according to the ages of the children continuing in the house), 
and proportionally for any fraction of a year for each and 
'©very child which, agreeable to the provisions of this act shall be 
entrusted to the care and custody of the said corporation from 
the city and county of New York; and shall be supported and 
maintained by them. It is further provided, that whenever a 
homeless or needy mother has received care and attendance in 
the lying-in wards of the said corporation which it is hereby 
-authorized to have and maintain, the managers of said Asylum • 
shall be entitled to receive and shall receive from the county 
treasury, as hereinabove provided, the sum of twenty-five 
dollars for said care and obstetric attendance, and whenever 
any mother thus domiciled and attended at the birth of her 
child, and whenever any other homeless or needy mother 
with a nursing infant, resides at the asylum b}’ request of its 
■officers, and wet-nurses her own infant, the managers of the 
said institution shall be entitled to receive such sums as are 




233 


Herein designated, and provided in the manner hereinafter 
-specified, viz.: for the necessary aid in maintenance of such 
nursing by mothers in said asylum and for the maintenance of 
such mothers, and to aid them to enter upon useful life under 
such guidance and pecuniary assistance by said managers, 
the sums which the said Commissioners of Public Charities 
shall certify to be proper, and to be paid as hereinbefore pro¬ 
vided, in monthly, quarterly or annual payments, as said board 
of managers may request. 

Laws of 1872, ch. 635, § 12. 

See Laws 1874, ch. 644. 


Leake and Watts Oephan House, 

112th Street and 10th Avenue. 

This Orphan Home was incorporated in 1831. Its object 
-appears from the following extract from the preamble of the 
act of incorporation : 

Whereas, John G. Leake, late of the city of New York, de¬ 
ceased, in and by his last will and testament did, after certain 
legacies and devises therein mentioned, devise and bequeath 
all the residue and remainder of his estates, real as well as per¬ 
sonal, to his executors, the survivors and survivor of them, for 
the uses and upon the trusts following, viz. : Among other 
things, to be by them appropriated to the purchasing and en¬ 
dowing a house, or of ground to erect and endow a building 
in the suburbs of the city, for the reception, maintenance and 
•education, from time to time, forever thereafter, of as many 
helplesss orphan children (paying no regard to the country or 
religious persuasion of their deceased parents), until they shall 
severally arrive at an age to be put out apprentices to trades 
or services, as the said trustees shall deem the annual income 
..arising from the said estates, fully adequate to support. 

Laws of 1831, ch. 58. 


§ 1. Walter Bowne, the mayor of the city of New York ; 
Hickard Biker, the recorder of the said city; William Berrian, the 




234 


rector of Trinity Churcli, in the city of New York ; Nehemiahr 
Rogers and Charles McEvers, the church wardens of the said 
church; Gerardus A. Kuypers, eldest minister of the Dutch Con¬ 
gregation in the city of New York, incorporated by the name 
of the ministers, elders and deacons of the Reformed Protes¬ 
tant Dutch Church of the city of New York ; William W. Phil¬ 
lips, eldest minister of the Presbyterian Congregation in the 
city of New York, incorporated by the name of the First Pres¬ 
byterian Church in the city of New York, and their successors 
in the said offices and stations, respectively, in virtue of their 
said offices and stations, shall be, and hereby are, consti¬ 
tuted and declared to be a body corporate, in fact and in name, 
by the name and style of “ The Trustees of the Leake and 
Watts Orphan House, in the city of New York,” for tho pur¬ 
pose of maintaining and educating orphan children, according 
to the intent of the above mentioned will; and the said trus¬ 
tees and their successors, by the name and style aforesaid,, 
shall be capable in law of purchasing, holding and conveying 
real and personal estate, for the use and benefit of the said cor¬ 
poration in such manner as to them, or a majority of them, shall 
appear to be most conducive to the interest of the said insti¬ 
tution. 

Laws of 1831, ch. 58, § 1. 


§ 1. It shall be lawful for the trustees of the Leake and : 
Watts Orphan Asylum House, in the city of New York, as to- 
any orphan child of either sex who shall have been admitted 
into the said Orphan House, and shall have continued therein 
for the space of two years or more and shall have attained^ 
the age of fourteen years, to place out and bind as an appren¬ 
tice any such child to and with any suitable person or persons 
in this State to learn such trade, business, occupation or pro- 
fession, and upon such terms and conditions, and for such 
period of time (in the case of boys not to exceed the age of 
twenty-one years; and in the case of girls, not to exceed the 
age of eighteen years), as the trustees of the said corporation,, 
or the major part of them shall deem eligible; and that every 




235 


indenture or agreement for the binding as an apprentice of 
any such child, duly executed by the said corporation, shall bo 
as valid and effectual, to all intents and purposes as if duly 
made and executed by the father of such child. 

Laws, 1844, ch. 153, § 1. 


Five Points House of Industry, 

155 Worth street. 

This institution was incorporated March 11, 1854, under the 
general act for the incorporation of benevolent societies. Its- 
object is stated to be : 

2. To provide partial or entire support, with suitable instruc¬ 
tion to children and others incapable of self-support and, not 
satisfactorily provided for by their parents, guardians, or by 
existing institutions. 

Additional powers were conferred by the following act: 

§ 1. The Five Points House of Industry, in the city of New 
York, shall have power to place the children in their care at 
suitable employments, and cause them to be instructed in 
suitable branches of useful. knowledge, and shall have poweiv 
at discretion, to bind out the said children, with their consent,, 
as apprentices or servants during minority, or any less period* 
to such persons, and at such places, to learn such proper 
trades and employments as shall be judged most conducive to 
the future benefit and advantage of such children; and any 
person to whom any such child may be bound shall execute a 
bond to the said corporation, in a sufficient penal amount, con¬ 
ditioned for the good treatment of such child, and to instruct,, 
or cause to have him or her instructed in reading, writing and 
arithmetic, and to give such child, at the expiration of his or 
her apprenticeship, at least one suit of new clothes and five 
dollars in money; and the said corporation may insert in the 
indenture of apprenticeship such clauses and agreements as the- 
poor-officers, authorized to bind out children, are empowered! 
or required to insert in like indentures. Children intrusted to- 
this corporation by the voluntary act of their parents or 




236 


guardians, shall be deemed to be in the lawful charge and 
custody of the said corporation ; and such intrusting shall be 
evidenced by a writing, in form substantially as follows, 
namely: 

“I, A. B., father (mother or guardian as the case may be) of 
C. D. (a boy or girl), aged years, born in , do 

hereby intrust to the Five Points House of Industry, for the 
period of years, the entire charge, management and 

control of said C. D., and do hereby assign to, and invest the 
said corporation with the same powers and control over the 
said C. D. as those of which I am possessed. In presence 
of 

Laws of 1866, ch. 90, § 1. 


§ 2. The real and personal estate belonging to and used for 
the charitable purposes of said association, shall be exempt 
from taxation. 

Laws, 1866, ch. 90, § 2. 


The Sheltering Arms. 

Tenth Avenue and 129th Street. 

This institution was incorporated on the 8th day of October, 
1864, under the general law for the incorporation of benevolent 
societies. 

Its objects, as stated in its certificate of incorporation, are as 
follows : 

“ Second .—The particular business and object of such society 
shall be the establishing, founding, carrying on and managing 
an asylum for the reception and education of children in need 
of a home. The said business is to be carried on in the city of 
New York ( 1 ).” 

(’) The object of this institution is more fully stated in its annual reports to be 
the reception of homeless children for whom no provision is made by other 
institutions. 

Matter of Clifton, 47 How. Pract. R., 172, for memorandum of which see 
ante page 18, § 4. 




■ 237 


The Woman’s Aid Society, and Home foe Tkaining Young 

Girls. 


41 Seventh Avenue. 

This association was incorporated under the general law for 
the incorporation of benevolent societies. 

Its object, as stated in its certificate filed 9th Dec., 1870, are 
as follows : 

* 

“Second .—That the particular business and objects of such 
society is, to afford gratuitous aid to indigent and destitute 
females, and to provide temporary homes for young girls who 
are homeless afkl friendless, and train them up to habits of in¬ 
dustry and usefulness.” 


The Association for Befriending Children. 

136 Second Avenue. 

This institution was incorporated on 19th October, 1870, under 
the general law for the incorporation of benevolent societies. 

Its objects, as stated in its certificate of incorporation, are as 
follows: 

“ That the objects of said society are to rescue children oj 
poor and dissolute parents in the city of New York, from the 
evil influences that surround them by providing a house or 
houses in said city where such children maybe gathered, shelt¬ 
ered and nurtured, and receive such instruction as shall counter¬ 
act their tendencies to vice and irreligion, and shall fit them to 
earn their living in the various branches of industry. The more 
immediate object of the society is to carry on and establish the 
work already commenced by a voluntary association bearing the 
above title, at their house, No. 316 West Fourteenth street (*), in 
said city, where female children only have been hitherto re¬ 
ceived, who were vagrant or abandoned children, or children 
of poor or dissolute parents, and either themselves vicious or 
in danger of becoming so, and many of whom were received 
into the house with the consent of their parents or one of them, 
and where the children received have been sheltered, clothed, 




238 


* 

instructed and fed for a longer or shorter period. It being also 
tlie intention of the society, as one of the means of effecting its 
objects as above stated, so far as may hereafter be found prac¬ 
ticable and advisable, to acquire and dispose of the legal 
custody and control of any one or more of such children. 

(') Now 136 Second avenue. 


The Orphans’ Home, and Asylum of the Protestant 
Episcopal Church. 

Forty-Ninth Street, between Fourth and Lexington Avenues. 

This institution was incorporated under the general law for 
the incorporation of benevolent societies. 

Its objects, as stated in its certificate, filed 20 June, 1859, are 
as follows : 

“That the object of the society is the maintenance and edu¬ 
cation of orphans and half-orphans.” 

The 14th by-law provides that children between the ages of 
three and eight years only shall be received, and that boys may 
be retained until twelve, and girls until fourteen. Persons 
placing children in the home pay seventy-five cents weekly. 
Orphans given up entirely to the home may be received with¬ 
out charge. 

The 15th by-law provides for binding out children. 


The House of the Good Shepherd. 

Foot of East Ninetieth Street. 

This institution was incorporated Nov. 1 1858, under the 
general law for the incorporation of benovelent societies. 

Its objects, as stated in its certificate of incorporation, are as 
follows: 

“ The particular business and objects of said society are to 
promote the reformation of female penitents^) ” 

0) This is a Roman Catholic House for the detention of certain prostitutes. 

2 Revised Statutes 839 § 17. See ante page 92, § 17. 





230 


'The Children’s Educational Relief Association. 

304 East Broadway. 

This association was incorporated under the general act for 
the incorporation of benevolent societies. 

Its objects, as set forth in its certificate, are : 

“ To co-operate with the Board of Public Instruction of said 
city, in advancing the cause of education on a broad and un¬ 
sectarian basis, and whose special work shall be to aid poor 
children to attend the Public Schools ( 1 ).” 

,(’) This society acts as an aid to and in conjunction with the Principals of the 
Public Schools and truant officers. 


Unitarian Mission School. 

Superintendent, Mrs. D. B. Eaton, 2 East Twenty-ninth Street. 

Incorporated in 1868, under the general law. 

Its objects, as stated in its certificate of incorporation, are 
as follows : 

§ 2. That the particular business and objects of such Society 
are as follows : 

1st. To conduct and to support a free school for the instruc¬ 
tion of young children in the use of the needle and in element¬ 
ary practical knowledge. 

2d. To maintain and to conduct a Sabbath School, and 
3d. To acquire and to maintain suitable furniture and 
accommodation for such schools. 


St. Luke’s Hospital. 

Fifty-fourth Street and Fifth Avenue. 

This hospital was incorporated May 1, 1850, under the 
general act for the incorporation of benevolent societies. 

Its objects, as stated in its constitution are, as follows : 

“ Article II.—Objects. The object of the society is the estab¬ 
lishment, support and management of an institution to be known 





240 


as ‘ St. Luke’s Hospital ’ for the purpose of affording medical 
and surgical aid and nursing to sick or disabled persons,, 
and also to provide them while inmates of the Hospital 
with the ministrations of the Gospel agreeably to the forms 
and doctrines of the Protestant Episcopal Church ’’O). 

Its charter was amended by acts passed March 28, 1851 
February, 1854; and April 15, 1870. 

(>) The power given Boards of Health to procure proper places for the relief of 
the sick does not authorize them to purchase a hospital dt the expense of the 
county. 

People vs. Supervisors, 18 Barb. R., 567. 


The New York Society for the Relief of the Ruptured 
and Crippled. 

Lexington Avenue and Forty-second Street. 

This society was incorporated 13th April 1863, under the 
general act for the incorporation of benevolent societies. 

Its objects as stated in its certificate of incorporation are as 
follows : 

“ II.—That the particular business and object of such society 
shall be to supply skilfully constructed surgico-mechanical ap¬ 
pliances, and the treatment of in and out-door patients requir¬ 
ing trusses and spring supports, also bandages, lace stockings, 
and other suitable apparatus for the relief and cure of cripples, 
both adults and children, and so far as possible to make these 
benefits available to the poorest in the community.” 

§ 65. The sum of one hundred and fifty dollars shall he paid 
annually by the city of New York, to the treasurer of the New 
York Society for the relief of the ruptured and crippled, for thq 
support of every crippled child received and retained in their 
hospital, for one year, and a proportionate sum for a shorter 
period ( 2 ). 

2 Revised Statutes p. 133 § 65. Laws 1872, ch. 835, § 1. 

( 2 ) This society is authorized to hold real estate not exceeding $250,000, and per¬ 
sonal estate not exceeding $150,000 in value by Laws of 1867, ch. 638. 




241 


The New York Infirmary for Women and Children (*). 

5 Livingston place, Stuyvesant square, Second Avenue. 

This institution was organized in 1854, under the “ Act for 
the incorporation of benevolent societies.” 

In its certificate of incorporation its objects are stated to be 
“ the providing and furnishing medicines, and medical and sur¬ 
gical aid to such persons as may need them, and be unable, by 
reason of their poverty, to procure the same. Also, the train¬ 
ing an efficient body of nurses for the community; and also 
the employment of medical practitioner^ of either sex—it 
being the design of this institution to obtain the services of 
well-qualified female practitioners of medicine for its patients.” 

(*) The name was formerly “The New York Infirmary for Indigent Women and 
Children.” This was changed by Laws of 1864, ch. 178. 


The Roosevelt Hospital in the City of New York. 

Corner Fifty-ninth Street and Ninth Avenue. 

This hospital was incorporated by Laws of 1864, chap. 4. 
Its objects are as follows: 

§ 2. The object of the said corporation shall be the estab¬ 
lishment, in the city of New York, of a hospital for the recep¬ 
tion and relief of sick and diseased persons, and its permanent 
endowment, pursuant to the directions of the last will and tes¬ 
tament of the founder, as aforesaid ( 2 ). 

Laws, 1864, ch. 4, § 2. 

( 2 ) The property of the corp< »ration is exempt from taxation—§ 3. The patients 
are largely free. 


Saint Mary’s Free Hospital for Children. 

407 West Thirty-fourth Street. 

This hospital is not incorporated. It is one of the works 
carried on by the Sisters of St. Mary, an incorporated society 
of the diocese of New York, which undertakes “ the care of the 
sick and needy, the orphan and the fallen, and the education 
of the young.” 

16 






242 


The Society for the Belief of the Destitute Children of 
Seamen. 

West New Brighton, Staten Island. 

Article II, of its Constitution, reads as follows : 

“ II. The object of this society shall be to afford relief and 
protection to the destitute children of seamen in the city of 
New York and its vicinity, by providing an asylum for them, 
with proper arrangements for their health, comfort and educa¬ 
tion, which shall be called ‘The Home for Seamen’s Children.’ ” 

Article XI, provides that no child shall be admitted to the 
asylum under two or over ten years of age, and that when of 
sufficient age they shall be placed with some respectable per¬ 
son or family, or returned to their parents. 

§ 1. The persons hereinafter named, and such others as now 
are or hereafter shall become members of the society herein 
mentioned, shall be and hereby are constituted a body corpo¬ 
rate by the name of “ The Society for the Belief of the Desti¬ 
tute Children of Seamen,” whose object and business shall be 
to afford relief, instruction and protection to the destitute 
children of seamen in the city and port of New York, it being 
the opinion of the Legislature that the objects of said society 
in relation to the holding of property, cannot be obtained under 
a general law. 

Laws, 1851, ch. 296, § 1. 

§ 8. In all cases where a child shall have been surrendered 
by its natural or other legal guardian, to the care and manage- 1 
ment of the society, by an instrument or declaration in writing, 
or where it is not known that there is any person in this State 
legally authorized to make such surrender, it shall be lawful • 
for the said board of managers, in their discretion, to bind out 
such child to service in some suitable employment and to some 
proper person or persons, in conformity to the laws of this 
State in regard to the binding out of indigent children ; and it 
shall be the duty of the said board of managers to see, as far 
as practicable, that the contract or contracts for such service 
are properly fulfilled and performed, in this respect, to the 
children who may be bound out as aforesaid. 

Laws, 1851, ch. 296, § 8. 



243 


§ 135. Any cliild not under the age of ten years, or over six¬ 
teen years of age, and who has been under the care of the 
managers of the Society for the Belief of Destitute Children of 
Seamen for not less than a year, and has progressed so far in 
his or her education as to read and write, may be bound out by 
said managers to serve as a clerk, apprentice or servant in any 
useful profession, trade or employment, in the same manner 
and with the same effect as overseers of the poor are by law 
.authorized to bind out poor and indigent children. 

2 Revised Statutes, p. 832, § 135. Laws 1857, ch. 297. 


'The German-American School Society of the Nineteenth 
Ward, in the City of New York. 

§ 1. Theodor Yogel, Jacob Rathgeber, Peter Kussling, John 
Hch. Meyer, August Kune, William Bornemann, Christian 
Eberspacher, Anton Heim, William Lindemann, Georg Manz, 
Lorenz Favorat, Louis Nicolai, Louis Saal, Jacob Allies, John 
Kuntke, Andreas Rauch, their associates and successors, are 
•hereby constituted a body corporate under the name of the 
“ German-American School Society, of the Nineteenth Ward, in 
the city of New York,” to be located in said city, having for its 
object the establishment of a German-American School, for the 
education of children of both sexes, and the promotion of 
science in general, with power to take by purchase, and devise 
(subject to the restrictions imposed by law), or otherwise, and 
to hold, transfer, mortgage and convey such real and personal 
•estate as shall be necessary for the purposes of the corporation, 
not exceeding the amount of one hundred thousand dollars. 

Laws of 1863, ch. 248, § 1. 


The Lithographers’ Benevolent Association of the City 
of New York. 

:§ 2. The object and purpose of said corporation is to accu¬ 
mulate a fund for the aid of its members in disablement, sick¬ 
ness and distress, and to aid and assist widows, children and 
families of its deceased members. 

Laws of 1863, ch. 293, § 2. 






244 


The Children’s Fold, of the City of New York. 

157 East Sixtieth Street. 

§ 1. The trustees of “ The Children’s Fold,” an orphan asy¬ 
lum, located in the city of New York, are hereby authorized, 
and empowered to adopt into families, any orphan, half-orphan 
or destitute child who may have been in their care and charge 
for the space of one year, in case said children be under ten 
years of age, or six months, in case of children over ten years 
old. 

Laws, 1874, ch. 50G, § 1. 


§ 2. The Board of Supervisors of the city and county of New 
York, shall levy and collect by tax in the year one thousand 
eight hundred and seventy four, and every year thereafter, at 
the same time and in the same manner as the contingent 
charges and expenses of the city and county are levied and col¬ 
lected, and shall pay over to “ The Children’s Fold, ” of the city 
of New York, the sum of two dollars per week for each and 
every orphan, half-orphan and destitute child, received and 
supported by said institution, the expense of whose support is 
not paid by private parties. 

Laws, 1874, ch. 506, § 2. 


The Wayside Industrial Home. 

City of New York. 

§ 2. The purpose of the said corparation shall be to establish 
and maintain an institution for the care, support and proper 
training and education of destitute children, that they may be 
enabled to lead a useful and industrious life, for which purposes 
it is hereby invested with the powers and liabilities, and subject 
to the restrictions contained in and conferred by the provisions 
of chapter three hundred and nineteen of the Laws of eighteen 
hundred and forty-eight and other general laws relating to 
charitable, benevolent and scientific institutions in this State. 

Laws of 1869, ch. 354, § 2. 



245 


Asylum for Orphan, Friendless and Illegitimate Children, 
of German Origin. 

City of New York. 

§ 1. Peter Roedel, Alexander Lange, Frederick Ruschhaupt, 
and their successors, are hereby made a body corporate, under 
the name and title of the Association for the Relief and Pro¬ 
tection of Friendless Children of German Origin, and are here¬ 
by empowered to rent or purchase real estate in the city of 
New York or Brooklyn, for the purpose of founding and endow¬ 
ing an asylum to support and educate orphan, friendless and 
illegitimate children of German origin, and apply the funds left 
by Philipp Stoppelbein, deceased, in trust, to his executors, 
Peter Roedel, Alexander Lange, for that purpose. 

Laws of 1869, ch. 427, § 1. 


The Artists’ Fund Society of the City of New York. 

§ 3. The object and purpose of said society is to accumulate 
.a fund for the aid of its members in disablement, sickness and 
'distress, and to aid and assist widows, children, and families 
-of its deceased members. 

Laws of 1861, ch. 188, § 3. 


The Shepherd’s Fold of the Protestant Episcopal 
Church in the State of New York. 

Eighty-sixth Street, corner of Second Avenue. 

§ 1. In all cases where a child may have been, or may here- 
.after be surrendered by its natural or other legal guardians to 
4he care and management of the society known as “The Shep¬ 
herd’s Fold of the Protestant Episcopal Church in the State of 
New York,” or shall have been or may hereafter be committed 
to the care and charge of said society, pursuant to the provi¬ 
sions of chapter seven hundred and seventy-five of the Laws of 
.one thousand eight hundred and sixty-eight, it shall be lawful 






246 


for the trustees of said society, at their discretion, to place such? 
child by adoption, or at service, in some suitable employment, 
and with some proper person or persons, conformably to the 
laws of this State in regard to the binding out of indigent 
children, provided, that in all such cases the terms of the in¬ 
denture shall be approved by one of the Commissioners of 
Public Charities and Correction of the city of New York, or 
by the surrogate of the city and county of New York, or the- 
Mayor of said city ; which approval shall be signified on such 
indenture by the signature of such commissioner, surrogate, 
or mayor ; but in every such case the requisite provisions shall 
be inserted in the indenture or contract of binding to secure 
the child so bound such treatment, education or instruction, as- 
shall be suitable and useful to its situation and circumstances; 
in life. 

Laws 1871, ch. 269, § 1. 


§ 2. In case of the death or legal incapacity of a father, or 
his abandoning and neglecting to provide for his family, the 
mother shall be deemed the legal guardian of her children, for 
the purpose of making such surrender as aforesaid; and in all 
cases where it is not known that there is, within the State of 
New York, any person legally authorized to act in the premises,, 
the Mayor, one of the Commissioners of Public Charities and 
Correction, or Surrogate of New York, shall be ex-officio the' 
legal guardians for the like purpose, and such guardianship 
shall extend as well to children already in the home of said 
society as to those who may hereafter be offered for admission-, 
or received therein ; and, in either case, whether such surrender 
be made by the mother, or by the Mayor, Commissioner of 
Public Charities and Correction, or Surrogate of said city, and 
whether before or after admission into the said home, it shall 
be ^eemed a legal surrender for the purposes, and within the*, 
true intent and meaning of the first section of this act (*). 

Laws, 1871, ch. 269, § 2. 

(') Five thousand dollars are raised annually for this association, under § 2 ^ 



247 


The Trustees of the Masonic Hall and Asylum Fund. 

§ 4. It shall be the object of the corporation hereby created 
to build and maintain a Masonic Hall in the city of New York, 
for the meetings of the grand lodge or general assembly of 
masons, and for the accommodation of other masonic bodies 
or associations; and out of the funds derived from the rent or 
income thereof, or other sources, to build, establish and main¬ 
tain an asylum or asylums, school or schools, for the free edu¬ 
cation of the children of masons, and for the relief of worthy 
and indigent masons, their widows' and orphans. 

Laws 1864, ch. 272, §4. 


The Rose Beneficent Association of the City of New York. 

§ 2. The object of the said corporation shall be to provide 
for the maintenance, education and employment of such poor 
white children as may legally be subjected to its control; and 
for that purpose the said corporation is authorized to purchase 
and hold such farms and other real estate as it may deem nec¬ 
essary for the accomplishment of the object aforesaid. 

Laws of 1860, ch. 262., §2. 


Roman Catholic Orphan Asylum. 

Fifth and Madison Avenues, and Fifty-first and Fifty second 

Streets, and 32 Prince Street. 

§ 1. The Roman Catholic Orphan Asylum, in the city of New 
York, and the asylum for relief of the children of poor widow¬ 
ers and widows in the city of New York, are hereby united in 
one corporation by the name of the Roman Catholic Orphan 
Asylum in the city of New Y T ork ; the object of which shall be 
to support, maintain and educate orphan and half-orphan 
children ( J ). 

Laws, 1852, p. 379, § 1. 

(i) The By-Laws of said corporation specify an additional object, viz.: “and 
to educate them in the Roman Catholic Faith.” 

Art. 1, By-Laws. 





248 


§ 5. The Board of Managers may receive and prescribe rules 
for the admission in the asylum of any child or children, and 
shall have the power, with the consent of the parent or guard¬ 
ian, if any, and if none, then without such consent, to bind out 
any such child or children to serve as clerk, apprentice or serv¬ 
ant in any profession, trade or employment; if a male until the 
age of twenty-one years, and if a female until the age of eigh¬ 
teen years, or for any shorter time. 

Laws, 1852, p. 379, § 5. 


American Female Guardian Society and Home for the 
Friendless. 

House of Industry and Home, 82 East Thirtieth Street. 

§ 2. Mary Anne Hawkins, Sarah R. J. Bennett, Rebecca Mc- 
Comb, Mary Irene Hubbard, Margaret Bye, Phoebe L. Os¬ 
born, Elizabeth Eaton, Almira C. Loveland, Juliana C. Angell, 
Sarah C. Hawkshurst, Pliebe Palmer, Mary K. Everts, Eliza 
C. Ball, Elizabeth Lane, Mary M. Kelley, Julia W. Bleecker, 
Helen E. Brown, Catharine G. Thorne, and all such persons 
as now are members of the Association called the “American 
Female Moral Reform and Guardian Society,” and all who 
shall become members of the corporation hereby created shall 
be, and thereby are hereby, constituted a body corporate by 
the name of the “American Female Guardian Society,” whoso 
object and business shall be, by the publication and diffusion 
of books, papers and tracts, and by other moral and religious 
means, to prevent vice and moral degradation, and to establish 
and maintain houses of industry and homes for the relief of 
friendless, destitute or unprotected females, and for friendless 
or unprotected children. 

Laws of 1849, ch. 244, § 2. 


§ L Whenever any girl under the age of fourteen or boy un¬ 
der the age of ten years, shall be brought by any policeman of 
the city of New York before the Mayor or Recorder, or any 




249 


alderman or other magistrate of the said city, upon the allega¬ 
tion that such child was found in any street, highway or public 
place in said city, in the circumstances of destitution and suffer- 
ing, or abandonment, exposure or neglect, or of beggary, speci¬ 
fied and defined in the eighteenth section (*) of the act entitled 
" il An Act relative to the powers of the Common Council of New 
York, and the police and criminal courts of said city,” passed 
January 23, 1833, and it shall be proved to the satisfaction of 
such magistrate, by competent testimony, that such child is 
embraced within the said section, and it shall further appear to 
the satisfaction of such magistrate, by competent testimony, or 
by the examination of the child, that by reason of the neglect, 
habitual drunkenness or other vicious habits of the parents or 
lawful guardian of such child, it is a proper object for the care 
and instruction of this society, such magistrate, instead of 
•committing such child to the almshouse of said city, or to such 
place, if any, as may have been provided by the Common 
^Council thereof, in his discretion, by warrant in writing, under 
his hand, may commit such child to this society, to be and re¬ 
main under the guardianship of its managers, .until therefrom 
discharged in manner prescribed by law ; such commitment 
shall be by warrant, in substance as follows: 

To J-D-, one of the policemen of the city 

•of New York : You are hereby commanded to take charge of 

•CJ- E-, a child under the age of fourteen, who 

has been proved to me, by competent evidence, to be embraced 
within the eighteenth section of the act entitled, “ An Act 
relative to the powers of the Common Council of the city of 
New York, and the Police and Criminal Courts of said city, 
^approved January 23, 1833,” and who also appears to my sat¬ 
isfaction to be a proper object for the care and instruction of 
the managers of the American Female Guardian Society, and 
shall deliver the said child without delay to the same Society, 
in Thirtieth street, between Madison and Fourth avenues, and 
for so doing this shall be your sufficient warrant. 

Dated this day of eighteen hundred 

But no variance from the preceding form shall be deemed 
material, provided it sufficiently appear upon the face of the 






warrant that the child is committed by the magistrate in the 
exercise of the powers given him by this act. 

Laws, 1857, cli. 249, § 1. 

(') For which see ante page 141. 


§ 2. Any order so made by any such magistrate, shall be exe¬ 
cuted by any policeman to whom it shall be delivered by the 
magistrate, by conveying the child therein named to the Home 
for the Friendless, and such child shall be detained in said home 
until discharged or removed therefrom in the manner here¬ 
inafter provided. 

Laws of 1857, ch. 249, § 2. 


§ 3. Immediately upon the making of any such order, the- 
magistrate making the same shall deliver to a policeman of the- 
city a notice, in writing, addressed to the father of such child, 
if its father be living and resident within the city, and if not,, 
then to its mother, if she be living and so resident; and if 
there be no father or mother of such child resident within 
the city, then addressed to the lawful guardian of such child,, 
if any, or to the person with whom, according to the examina¬ 
tion of the child, and the testimony, if any, received by such 
magistrate, such child shall reside ; in which notice the party 
to whom the same is addressed shall be informed of the com¬ 
mitment of such child to the said Society, and shall be notified 
that unless taken therefrom in the manner prescribed by law,, 
within ten days after'the service of such notice, the child 
therein named shall be deemed legally surrendered to this. 
Society, for the purposes and within the true intent and mean¬ 
ing of the sixth section of its Act of Incorporation, passed 
April 6,1849. 

Laws of 1857, ch. 249, § 3. 


§ 4. Such notice shall be served by the policeman to whom? 
it shall be delivered, by delivering the same to the party to 




whom it shall have been addressed, personally, or by leaving it 
with some person of sufficient age, at the place of residence or 
business of such party ; and it shall be the duty of such police¬ 
man immediately to report the fact, and the time and manner 
of such service, to the magistrate. 

Laws of 1857, ch. 249, § 4. 


§ 5. If the party to whom such notice shall have been ad-. 
dressed, or any other person, shall, within the time therein 
specified, prove to the satisfaction of the magistrate issuing the 
same, that the circumstances of want and suffering, or other 
circumstances described in the eighteenth section of the before- 
named act, passed January 3, 1833, under which such child 
shall have been found, have not been occasioned by the hab¬ 
itual neglect or misconduct of the parents, or lawful guardian 
of such child, then it shall be the duty of such magistrate, by 
order in writing, addressed to the managers of said Society, to> 
direct such managers to deliver such child to the custody of 
the party named in such order, who shall thereupon be entitled 
to take such child away from the said Society. 

Laws, 1857, ch. 249, § 5. 


§ 6. If such proof shall not be produced within the tirne^ 
above prescribed, it shall be the duty of the magistrate by 
whom the child shall have been committed to the said Society 
to make and transmit to the managers thereof a notice, in 

writing, to that effect. 

Laws, 1857, ch. 249, § 6. 

§ 7. If any child who has been previously arrested and deliv¬ 
ered to the parent or guardian, as hereinbefore provided, shall 
again be found in either of the conditions described in the 
eighteenth section of the act aforesaid, the magistrate before- 
whom such child is brought, upon proof thereof, may forthwith 
make a final order for committing such child to the care and 
instruction of this society, without giving the notice provided 

for in section third of this act. 

Laws, 1857, ch. 249, § 7. 



252 


§ 8. If, at any time after a child shall have been committed to 
the said society, as above provided for in this act, it shall be 
made to appear to the satisfaction of the board of managers of 
the said society that such child was, on insufficient cause, false 
or deficient testimony, or otherwise wrongfully or improvidently 
so committed, the said board of managers shall, on the appli¬ 
cation of the parents, guardian, or protector; and also, if, after 
a child shall have been properly committed to the said society, 
by virtue and in pursuance of the provisions of this act, any cir¬ 
cumstances should occur that, in the judgment of the board of 
managers of said home, would render expedient and proper the 
discharge of such child from the guardianship of said board* 
having a due regard for the welfare of such child and the pur¬ 
pose of this society, the said board of managers, on the ap¬ 
plication of the parents, guardian, or protector of such child, 
ma}’, in their discretion, deliver up the child to its parents, 
guardian, or protector, on such reasonable conditions as the 
said board of managers may deem right and proper. 

Laws, 1857, ch. 249, § 8. 


§ 9. The said managers shall have power, and it shall be 
their duty, whenever any child intrusted or committed to their 
charge shall, by the commission of any infamous crime or by 
confirmed habits of vagrancy, shall have become so degraded 
and debased as to be an improper subject for tlier care and 
management, to return such child to the committing magistrate 
or other proper authorities, to be disposed of in due course of 
law. 

Laws, 1857, ch. 249, § 9. 


§ 10. If any party to whom the said Guardian Society shall 
have intrusted a child shall be guilty of any cruelty, misusage, 
refusal or neglect to furnish necessary provisions or clothing, 
or any other violation of the terms of indenture or contract, 
toward any such child so indentured, such child may make 






253 


complaint thereof to the board of managers of this society, or 
to any justice of the peace of the county in which such child 
is so indentured, or to the mayor, recorder, or alderman of any 
city in which such child is bound to service, or to any such of¬ 
ficer, who shall summon the parties before him and examine 
into, hear, and determine the said complaint; and if, upon such 
examination, the said complaint shall appear well founded, such 
officer shall, by certificate under his hand, discharge such child 
from his obligation of service, and restore him or her to the 
charge and management of this society, in the same manner 
and with like powers as before the indenture of such child. 

Laws of 1857, ch. 249, § 10. 


§11. Where children are indentured, the guardian may be 
required, after said children shall have attained the age of 
twelve years, to place annually in the treasury of the American 
Female Guardian Society the sum of ten dollars, which shall 
be the legal property of such children. If a girl, the aggre¬ 
gate, making sixty dollars, shall be paid to her when she has 
attained the age of eighteen years; and if a boy, the annual 
payment, making ninety dollars, shall be paid to him when 
twenty-one years of age. These respective sums shall be duly 
credited to said children upon the books of the society, and 
receipts of the respective payments placed in the hands of the 
guardian for safe keeping. 

Laws, 1857, ch. 249, § 11. 


§ 12. The board of managers of this society shall be the 
guardian of every child indentured by virtue and in pursuance 
of the provisions of this act. They shall take care that the 
terms of the contract be faithfully fulfilled, and that such ward 
be properly treated; and it is hereby made their special duty 
to inquire into the treatment of every such child, and redress 
any grievance in manner prescribed by law; and it shall be the 
duty of the guardian to whom any such child be indentured, 




254 


and lie shall, by the terms of the indenture, be required, as 
often as once in six months, to report to the said board of 
managers the conduct and behavior of the said apprentice, and 
anything of special interest pertaining to his welfare. 

Laws 1857, ch. 249, § 12. 


The New York Association for Improving the condition of 
the Poor. 

Office 59 Bible House, 

Incorporated 14th December, 1848, under the general act 
for incorporating benevolent societies. Its general objects, as 
stated in the certificate of incorporation, are as follows : 

“ II.—That the particular business and objects of such asso- 
ciation shall be the elevation of the physical and moral condi¬ 
tion of the indigent, and, so far as is compatible with these 
objects, the relief of their necessities.” 


N. Y. Society for the Suppression of Vice. 

Anthony Comstock, Secretary, 150 Nassau Street. 

This society was incorporated by the Act of 1873, Chap. 
527. 

§ 3. The object of this society shall be the enforcement of 
the laws for the suppression of the trade in, and circulation of, 
obscene literature and illustrations, advertisements and articles 
of indecent and immoral use, as it is or may be forbidden by 
the laws of the State of New York, or of the United States. 

§ 5. The police force of the city of New York, as well as of 
all other places where police organizations exist, shall, as 
occasion may require, aid this corporation, its members or 
agents, in the enforcement of all laws which now exist, or "which 
may hereafter be enacted, for the suppression of the acts and 
offenses specified in section three of this act. 

Laws 1873, ch. 527, §§3 and 5. 



Ladies’ Home Missionary Society of the Methodist 
Episcopal Church. 

61 Park Street. 

This Society was incorporated by the Act of March 20 
1856. 

Its objects, as stated in this act, are : 

§2. The objects of said society are to support one or more 
missionaries, to labor among the poor of the city of New York, 
especially in the locality known as the “ Five Pointsto pro¬ 
vide food, clothing and other necessaries for such poor; to 
educate poor children, and provide for their comfort and wel¬ 
fare; and for that purpose to maintain a school at the Five 
Points, in said city, and to perform kindred acts of charity and 
benevolence. 

Laws 1856, p. 41, § 2. 


Colored Orphan Asylum. 

West 143d Street, near Boulevard. 

§ 1. All such persons of the female sex, as now are, or here¬ 
after shall become, subscribers, to the amount of not less than 
three dollars per annum, to the association hereby incorpor¬ 
ated, or in the sum of twenty-five dollars in cash, are hereby 
•constituted a body corporate, by the name of the “ Association 
for the Benefit of Colored Orphans, in the City of New York 
and the said corporation shall be capable, in law, of purchasing 
taking by devise, subject to all the provisions of law relative 
to devises and bequests, by last will and testament, holding 
and conveying any estate, real or personal, provided that such 
estate shall not exceed in value two hundred and fifty thou¬ 
sand dollars, at the time of the purchase thereof, exclusive of 
any buildings or other improvements thereon, for the uses and 
purposes of said association ; and all personal and real estate 
heretofore transferred or conveyed to said association shall be¬ 
long to and be vested in it, in the same manner, and with the 
same effect, as though the same had been transferred or con¬ 
veyed to said association after the passage of this act. 

Laws 1838, ch. 232, § 1, as amended Laws 1872, ch. S06, § 1. 



250 


§4. The orphan, half-orphan, or destitute children, who shall 
he received into the said asylum shall be considered, to all 
intents and purposes, the wards of the trustees of the said cor¬ 
poration, who shall, by virtue of this act, be constituted the 
lawful guardians of the persons of such infants. 

Laws 1838, ch. 232, §4, as amended Laws 18^71, ch. 255, § 2. 

The object of the said association, as provided by its constitu¬ 
tion, Art. 2, “shall be to provide and maintain a place of refuge 
for colored orphans where they shall be boarded, clothed and 
suitably educated, until of an age to be bound out or appren¬ 
ticed, In admitting children to the asylum, those deprived of 
both parents shall have the preference ; but if means be afforded, 
half-orphans shall be received.” 


German Mutual Assistance Society for Widows and 
Orphans. 

22 Frankfort Street. 

This society was incorporated by an act passed April 6, 1838. 

§ 2. The objects of the said society are benevolent, and to 
afford relief to the widows and orphans of its members in such 
manner as may be by its by-laws, rules and regulations pro¬ 
vided ( 1 ). 

Laws, 1838, ch. 170, §2. 

p) This is a purely mutual society and only assists contributors. 


The Orphan Asylum Society in the City of New York. 

Seventy-fourth Street and Eleventh Avenue. 

This society was incorporated by Laws of 1807, chap. 159. 
Its objects, as stated in its constitution, are as follows : 

2. The object of this society is to provide an asylum for the 
care, support, and education of full orphans, and of such other 
destitute children as shall be considered suitable recipients of 
its benefits. 





257 


Be it enacted by the People of the State of New York , represent¬ 
ed in Senate and Assembly : That the Orphan Asylum Society in 
the city of New York shall have the same power to biud out 
by indenture such children as have been instructed by the said 
society, and who have neither parents nor guardians, as the 
commissioners of the alms-house and bridewell in the said city 
have: Provided , that it shall be essential to the validity of 
every such proceeding that the mayor of the said city shall ex¬ 
press his written approbation on every indenture so made. 

Laws, 1809, ch. 19. 


§ 1. The corporation, “ The Orphan Asylum Society in the 
city of New York,” incorporated by the act of April 7, 1807, 
chapter 179 ; and mentioned in the act of February 10, 1809, 
chapter 19 ; and the act of March 30, 1811, chapter 86 ; and 
the act of April 21, 1828, chapter 303, and the act of April 17, 
1829, chapter 159 ; and the act of April 15, 1859, chapter 367, 
shall continue until the first of May in the year one thousand 
nine hundred ( 1 ). 

Laws, 1872, ch. 372, § 1. 

(') The acts above recited constitute all the statutes directly affecting this institu¬ 
tion. Such of them as are not above given either prolong the corporate existence 
of the institution or relate to matters of little consequence to the purposes of this 
manual. 


§ 5. The said trustees are authorized to establish and main¬ 
tain, within the city of New York, or in the county of West¬ 
chester, or in both, one or more asylums for the care, support, 
and education of orphan children ; and they may, also, admit 
other destitute children to the care and privileges of the asylum, 
whenever, in their judgment, it can be done without obstruct¬ 
ing or interfering with this primary object of the society ; and 
the said trustees may take all children received into the asylum 
as apprentices, until eighteen years of age, with power to ap¬ 
prentice the same to other persons. 

Laws, 1872, ch. 372, § 5. 


17 



258 


§ 6. The said trustees are authorized to bind out as an ap¬ 
prentice any child which may have been in their asylum and 
under its instruction for one year or more, until such child 
shall be eighteen years of age ; and the indentures of appren¬ 
ticeship in all cases, when made by the trustees and executed 
under the seal of the society, and signed by the first directress 
and the secretary, shall be valid, without other signature, al¬ 
lowance or approval. 

Laws, 1872, eh. 372, § 6. 


The Children’s Aid Society. 

Office 19 East Fourth Street. 

This society was incorporated under the general act for the 
incorporation of benevolent societies. 

The object of tliis society is stated in Article I, of its con¬ 
stitution, to be as follows : 

“ Article I.—This society shall be known by the name of 
the Children’s Aid Society, and its object shall be to improve 
the condition of poor and destitute children in the city of New 
York and its vicinity” ( x ). 

This society conducts : 

The Newsboys’ Lodging House, corner of Reade, Duane, 
and Chambers street. 

The Girls’ Lodging House, No. 27 St. Mark’s place. 

The Eighteenth Street Lodging House, No. 211 West Eigh¬ 
teenth street. 

The Eleventh Ward Lodging House, No. 709 East Eleventh 
street. 

The Rivington Street Lodging House, No. 327 Rivington 
street. 

The Lincoln Lodging House, No. 314 East Thirty-fifth 
street. 

(') An action by a boy’s parents against this society for return of a boy sent to 
the West will not be sustained where the boy deceived the society as to his age 
and orphanage. The inducements offered by the society to travel and find new 
homes is not an enticement of which courts take cognizance. 

Nash vs. Douglass, 12 Abb. Pr., N. S., 187. 



259 


Hebrew Benevolent and Orphan Asylum. 

Third Avenue, near Seventy-seventh Street. 

The Hebrew Benevolent Society was incorporated by the act 
-of 1832, chap. 14. 

The name of the society was changed to the Hebrew Benevo¬ 
lent and Orphan Asylum of the City of New York by the act 
of 1870, chap. 21. 

The objects of the society, as declared in the act of 1860, 
are : 

§ 4. The trustees, for the time being, of said corporation 
shall have the sole and exclusive custody and control of the 
persons of such orphans, half-orphans, or indigent children of 
the age not exceeding thirteen years, as they may agree to 
maintain, provide for, educate and instruct during the minority 
of such orphans, half orphans, and indigent children, provided 
that in respect to any orphan its legal guardian or nearest rela¬ 
tive, or one of the governors of the alms-house, and in respect 
to any half-orphans or indigent children, the parents or surviv¬ 
ing parent, or legal guardian, shall consent, in writing, to such 
child being maintained, provided for, educated and instructed 
by said society, or that such half-orphan or indigent child shall 
be committed to the care and custody of said society by any 
court, magistrate, or police justice of the city of New York, in 
any case where such court, magistrate, or police justice shall 
acquire jurisdiction under an}" law of this State; and in such 
case such court, magistrate, or police justice shall have the like 
power and authority, with the consent of said trustees, to com¬ 
mit to the care and custody of said corporation as can now be 
exercised in regard to any other public institution ; and the 
said corporation can, by agreement and transfer from every 
other institution having the legal custody of any orphan, half¬ 
orphan, or indigent children, obtain the care and custody of 
such child or children in like manner as by such aforesaid 
consent or commitment; and the said trustees shall have the 
power and authority, on the arrival of any such orphan, half¬ 
orphan, or indigent child, at the age of thirteen years and up¬ 
wards, to bind them out to be taught and instructed in some 
necessary or useful employment on such terms and restrictions, 


260 


and to such persons, and upon such conditions as the said 
trustees may deem proper ; and the said corporation is hereby 
vested, in respect to the persons of all such orphans, half¬ 
orphans, and indigent children, with all the powers and 
authority conferred upon, and shall enjoy the same benefits,, 
and receive for the care, education, and maintenance of said 
orphans, half-orphans, and indigent children the like compen¬ 
sation now paid, and in the same manner as authorized by law 
to the New York Juvenile Asylum by the acts passed June 
thirtieth, eighteen hundred and fifty-one; passed July eigh¬ 
teenth, eighteen hundred and fifty-three; passed April seven¬ 
teenth, eighteen hundred and fifty-four; and passed March 
thirtieth, eighteen hundred and sixty-six, so far as they are 
applicable to this section. 

Laws, 1860, ch. 316, §4, as amended Laws of 1874, ch, 
230, § 1. 


The Nursery and Child’s Hospital. 

Fifty-first Street, corner of Lexington Avenue. 

Incorporated under the general act for incorporating benevo¬ 
lent societies, in April, 1851. 

Its objects, as stated in Article III, of its constitution, are 
as follows : 

“Article III.—Its objects are the maintenance and care of 
the children of wet nurses ; the daily charge of infants whose 
parents labor away from home; the care of lying-in women 
and their infants; and the support and maintenance of desti¬ 
tute children intrusted to their care, or admitted therein (* * * § ). 

(') For various laws relating- to this hospital, see Laws 1857, ch. 70; 1866,. 
ch. 650; 1869, ch. 366; 1874, ch. 643; 1875, ch. 221; and 1875, ch. 410. 


• The Evangelical Italian Orphan Asylum. 

City of New York.* 

Abrm. E. Van Nest, Jr., Secretary, 96 Fifth Avenue. 

§ 1. A. E. Yan Nest, Jr., James Lorimer Graham, Jr., Lar¬ 
kin G. Mead, Edwin Lamson, Gardner Swift Lamson, Eobert 





261 


Lenox Kennedy and Albert S. Barnes, and tlieir successors in 
office, are hereby created a body corporate and politic, under 
the name of the “Evangelical Italian Orphan Asylum.” Such 
corporation shall be established in the city of New York, and 
may exercise its functions as to the care of its beneficiaries in 
the city of Florence and elsewhere in Italy ; and its object shall 
be to provide for the destitute children of evangelical Chris¬ 
tians of all denominations, those who are absolute orphans 
having the first claim upon its charity. The persons named in 
this section shall be the first trustees of said corporation ( x ). 

Laws, 1874, ch. 182, § 1. 

(*) This asylum has a committee in Florence, Italy, where Miss Anne Willett, No 
1 Piazza degli Zuavi, is treasurer; and in London, where Miss Mary B. Reynett, 3 
Cranley Place, Onslow Square, S. W., is secretary. 


Protestant Half-Orphan Asylum. 

67 ^West Tenth Street. 

This society was incorporated April 27, 1837. 

§ 1. The persons hereinafter named, and such others as 
now are, or hereafter shall become members of the society 
herein mentioned, shall be, and hereby are, constituted a body 
corporate, by the name of “ The Society for the Relief of Half- 
Orphan and Destitute Children in the City of New York,” the 
sole object of which shall be to relieve, provide for, instruct, 
and protect such children. 

Laws, 1837, ch. 272, § 1. 


§ 10. In all cases where a child shall have been surrendered 
by its natural or other legal guardian to the care and management 
of the society by an instrument or declaration in writing, or 
where it is not known that there is any person in this State le¬ 
gally authorized to make such surrender, it shall be lawful for 
the said board of trustees, in their discretion, to bind out such 
.child to service in some suitable employment, and to some 
proper person or persons, conformably to the laws of this State 




262 


in regard to the binding out of indigent children : Provided^ 
that in all such cases the terms of the indentures shall be first, 
approved by the Surrogate of the city and county of New York.. 
Laws, 1837, ch. 272, § 10. 


The Colored Home. 

Foot East Sixty-fifth Street. 

This institution was incorporated by an act passed May 8th,. 
1845. 

Its objects, as stated in its charter, are as follows : 

§ 2. The objects of the said corporation are declared to be 
to provide for the support and comfort of infirm and destitute* 
colored persons of both sexes. 

Laws, 1845, ch. 148, part of § 2. 


St. Joseph’s Asylum in the City of New York. 

East Eighty-ninth Street, cor. Avenue A. 

This institution was incorporated by an act passed April 
15,1859. 

Its objects, as stated in its charter, are as follows: 

§ 6. The board of managers may receive and prescribe rules 
for the admission into the asylum of any child or children, and 
shall have the custody thereof ; and shall have the power, with 
the consent of the parent or guardian, if any ; and if none, then 
without such consent, to bind out any such child or children to 
serve as clerk, apprentice or servant in any profession, trade or 
employment; if a male, until the age of twenty-one years, and 
if a female, until the age of eighteen years, or for any shorter 
time. 


Laws, 1859, ch. 378, § 6. 




263 


Union Home School for Children of Volunteers. 

Cor. Eleventh Avenue and One Hundred and Fifty-first Street. 

§ 1. Mrs. General Robert Anderson, Mrs. Drake Mills, Mrs. 
Olive M. Devoe, Mrs. David Hoyt, Mrs. Richard Stokes! Mrs! 
Walter Kidder, Mrs. Sarah Mather, Mrs. J. Bagiola, Miss M. 
U. Hoyt, Miss H. Sherman, Mrs. John Voorhis, and Miss Kate 
Connell, and such others as shall be associated with them, shall 
be, and they are hereby, constituted a body corporate, by the 
name of the Union Home and School for the Education and 
Maintenance of the Children of our Volunteers, who are left 
unprovided for. 

Laws, 1862, ch. 420, § 1. 


§ 3. For the object designated in the first section of this act 
generally, or for any purpose connected with such object, the 
said corporation shall have power, from time to time, to pur¬ 
chase, take and hold real and personal estate, and to sell, lease, 
and otherwise dispose of the same, provided the aggregate 
value of such estate shall not exceed one hundred thousand 
dollars. 

Laws of 1862, ch. 420, § 3, as amended Laws of 1866, ch. 

243, § 1. 


§ 95. The board of supervisors of each and every countv of 
the State of New York shall levy and collect by tax, in the year 
one thousand eight hundred and seventy, and every year there¬ 
after, at the same time and in the same manner as the contingent 
charges and expenses of said county are levied and collected, and 
shall pay over to the Union Home and School, for the educa- 
cation and maintenance of the children of volunteers, the sum 
of one hundred and fifty dollars per annum ; and in like pro¬ 
portion for any fraction of a year, for each and every destitute 
child received from said county or counties which may be sup¬ 
ported and maintained by said institution. But the number 
of children for whom money is drawn under the provisions of 
this act shall, in no case, exceed four hundred in any one year. 

1 Revised Statutes, 886, § 96; Laws, 1873, ch. 143, § 1. 



264 


Working Women’s Protective Union. 

John H. Parsons, Secretary, 38 Bleecker Street. 

§ 2. The object of the said corporation shall be to promote 
the interests of women who obtain a livelihood by employments 
other than household service, and especially to provide them 
with legal protection from the frauds and impositions of un¬ 
scrupulous employers, to assist them in procuring employment, 
and to open to them such suitable departments of labor as are 
not occupied by them. 

Laws, 1868, ch. 585, § 2. 

This Society affords legal protection, employment and information to girls and 
women. 


The Howard Mission and Home for Little Wanderers- 
40 New Bowery. 

Incorporated under general law, September 6, 1864. 

Its objects, as stated in its certificate of incorporation, are as 
follows : 

“ The objects of the society are, and shall be, to do good to 
the souls and bodies of all who may come in, or in any lawful 
manner be placed under its influence, by furnishing a temporary 
home and shelter to the unfortunate and destitute, especially 
children, by feeding the hungry, clothing the naked, visiting 
the sick, relieving the destitute and friendless, ministering to 
their necessities, providing and procuring homes for the home¬ 
less, and protection and friends for the friendless; and impart¬ 
ing intellectual, moral and religious instruction, adapted to 
those under its care.” 


Asylum of St. Vincent He Paul. 

215 West Thirty-ninth Street, N. Y. City. 
Incorporated under the general law. 

Receives destitute boys and girls of French parentage from 
four years of age and keeps them till twelve years of age if 
boys, and eighteen if girls. 




265 


House of Mercy, 

Foot of West Eighty-sixth Street, N. Y. City. 
Incorporated February 23, 1855. 

Its object is tlie reformation of wayward girls and young 
'women. 


Institution of Mercy. 

House of Mercy, 35 to 43 East Houston street; St. Joseph’s 
Industrial School, 81st Street, between 4tli and Madison 
Avenues. 

Receives female children from three to fifteen years of age. 


St. Stephen’s Home for Children. 

145 East Twenty-eighth Street, N. Y. City. 
Organized May 1, 1868. 

Receives needy and destitute children of both sexes, between 
the ages of two and thirteen years. 


St. Vincent’s Home for Boys, 

53 and 55 Warren Street, N. Y. City. 
Incorporated in 1871. 

This institution partakes largely of the character of a news¬ 
boy’s lodging house; five cents per meal and five cents for 
lodging are charged. 


St. Vincent De Paul’s Industrial School, 

343 West Forty-second Street, N. Y. City. 

Organized in 1856. 

Industrial School and home for girls of 12 years and up¬ 
wards ; free for those who cannot pay. 






266 


Wilson Industrial School for Girls. 

125 St. Marks’ Place, N. Y. City. 

Incorporated February, 1854. 

Its object is to give to a class of children, whose parents are' 
too poor to send them to a public school, instruction in the 
elementary branches of English education and in sewing; also- 
a temporary lodging for girls. 


The Children’s Friend Society. 

81 Hamilton Street, 16 Canal Street, Albany, N. Y. 

Incorporated February 4, 1860. 

§ 1. The society or incorporation heretofore formed in the- 
city of Albany, under the name of “ The Children’s Friend 
Society,” is hereby authorized, in addition to the objects ex¬ 
pressed in its certificate of organization, to provide, in said 
city, a day home for such children as are fit objects of such 
charity, and especially for such as are unable or unwilling to 
attend ward schools; to instruct them in the rudiments of 
learning and work ; to furnish a noonday meal, and, in extra¬ 
ordinary cases, to furnish a temporary home for day and night,, 
to destitute children. 

Laws of 1863, ch. 98, § 1. 


Albany Orphan Asylum. 

Western Avenue, corner of Robin Street. 
Incorporated by act of March 30, 1831. 

Receives destitute children, of both sexes, between the ages^ 
of two and and a half and twelve years. 


Albany Child’s Hospital. 

Miss Alice Lea, Superintendent. Receives children of both 
sexes free. 






267 


Albany House of Shelter. 

Corner of Wendell and Howard Streets. 

Receives young women who have been exposed to lives of 
infamy. 


Orphan Home of St. Peter’s Church. 
1 Pine Street, Albany. 

Receives girls from three to eight years. 


St. Vincent’s Orphan Asylum Society. 

Albany. 

Incorporated by act of 1849, Ch. 152. 

This is a Roman Catholic institution, and conducts the fol¬ 
lowing asylums : 

1. St. Vincent’s Female Orphan Asylum, 106 Elm street. 

2. St. Joseph’s Industrial School, 261 North Pearl street. 

3. Vincent’s Male Orphan Asylum, Western avenue. 


Cayuga Asylum for Destitute Children. 

Owasco Street, Auburn, N. Y. 

Incorporated by act of May 10th, 1852. 

Homeless and destitute children, of both sexes, are received*, 
from earliest infancy until they are of suitable age to bind out. 


New York State Institution for the Blind. 
Batavia, Genesee Co. 

Incorporated by act of April 7, 1875. 

Receives and instructs poor blind children, of both sexes* 
from all parts of the State except New York, Kings, Queens. 





268 


and Suffolk counties. Application for admission must be made 
to Supreme Court. Full course of instruction occupies seven 
years ( x ). 

(>) For legislation affecting this institution, see ante page 67. 


The Davenport Institution for Female Orphan Children. 

Bath, Steuben Co., N. Y. 

§ 2. The objects and purposes of said corporation are here¬ 
by declared to be to feed, clothe and educate orphan female 
children ( 2 ). 

Laws of 1863, ch. 132, § 2. 

( 2 ) The orphans to be supported are to be selected in the following order: 1st, 
Inhabitants of Steuben county; 2d, inhabitants of Allegany county ; 3d, inhabit 
ants of any other county. Laws 1863, ch. 132, § 4. 

The .property of the institution is exempt from taxation. § 7. 


Susquehanna Valley Home and Industrial School for 
Indigent Children. 

Bingliampton, N. Y. 

Deceives and provides food, clothes and education for chil¬ 
dren of both sexes between three and sixteen years of age who 
have been placed in poor house. 


The Homan Catholic Orphan Asylum, in the City of Brook¬ 
lyn, County of Kings. 

§ 4. The object of the society shall be for the purpose of 
relieving the poor, and of protecting and educating orphan and 
half-orphan children. The board of directors and managers 
may receive and prescribe rules for the admission in the asy¬ 
lum of any child or children of Roman Catholic parentage, 
and shall have the power, with the written consent of the pa¬ 
rent or guardian, if any ; and if none, then with the written 
consent of the person entitled to the legal custody of the child, 
to bind out any such child or children to serve as clerk, ap- 





269 


prentice or servant in any profession, trade or employment; if 
a male, until the age of twenty-one years, and if a female, 
until the age of eighteen years, or for any shorter time. 

Laws 1834, ch. 303, § 4, as amended Laws 1865, cli. 308. 


The Industrial School Association of Brooklyn—Eastern 
District. 

141 South Third Street, Brooklyn, E. D. 

§ 4. It shall be one of the objects of such association to 
provide a temporary home and relief for adult destitute unpro¬ 
tected and friendless females. 

Laws, 1810, ch. 433, § 4. 


§ 5. The board of managers shall have power to appoint 
matrons and such other assistants, as they may deem necessary, 
in conducting the domestic and internal concerns of their house 
or houses of industry and home for the friendless ; to make any 
by-laws and regulations for the government of their own pro¬ 
ceedings and those of the persons so appointed, and of the 
inmates of their houses; to govern the children under their 
care, and prescribe their course of instruction and manage¬ 
ment to the same extent, and with the same rights as exist in 
the case of natural guardians. 

Laws, 1870, ch. 433, §5, 


§ 6. In all cases where a child shall have been surrendered 
by its natural or other legal guardian, to the care and manage¬ 
ment of the said association, by any instrument or declaration 
in writing, it shall be lawful for the board of managers, at their 
discretion, to place such child for adoption or at service in 
some suitable employment, and with some proper person or 
persons, conformable to the laws of this State in regard to th© 





270 


binding out of indigent children; provided that in all such 
oases the terms of the indenture shall be approved by the 
mayor of the city of Brooklyn, or by the surrogate of Kings 
county, which approval shall be signified on such indenture 
by the signature of such mayor or surrogate; but in every 
such case the requisite provisions shall be inserted in the 
indenture or contract of binding to secure the child so bound 
such treatment, education or instruction as shall be suitable 
and useful to its situation and circumstances in life. 

Laws of 1870, ch. 433, § 6. 


§ 7. In case of the death or legal incapacity of a father, or of 
his imprisonment for crime, or of his abandoning and neglect¬ 
ing to provide for his family, the mother shall be deemed the 
legal guardian of her children, for the purpose of making such 
surrender as aforesaid. And if in any such case the mother be 
also dead, or legally incapable of acting, or imprisoned for 
crime, or shall have abandoned or neglected to provide for her 
child or children, the mayor of the city of Brooklyn, or surro¬ 
gate of Kings county, shall be, by virtue of his office, the legal 
guardian for the like purpose ; and so in all cases where it can- ■ 
not, by diligent inquiry, be ascertained that there is within 
the State any parent or other person legally authorized to act 
in the premises, the said mayor or surrogate shall be ex-officio , 
such guardian for the same purpose; and in either case, 
whether such surrender be made by the mother, or by the 
mayor or surrogate, and whether before or after admission into 
said house, it shall be deemed a legal surrender for the pur¬ 
poses and within the true intent and meaning of the sixth sec¬ 
tion of this act; but no surrender by a mother, as provided by 
this section, shall be valid without the consent of the mayor 
or surrogate aforesaid. 

Laws of 1870, ch. 433, § 7. 


§ 8. If any party to whom the said association shall have 
intrusted a child shall be guilty of any cruelty, misusage, 





271 


Tefusal or neglect to furnish necessary provisions or clothing, or 
any other violation of the terms of indenture or contract, 
toward any child so indentured, such child may make com¬ 
plaint thereof to the board of managers of said association, or 
to any justice of the peace of the county in which such child is 
so indentured, or to the mayor, recorder or alderman of any 
city in which such child is bound to service, or any such officer, 
who shall summon the parties before him and examine into, 
hear and determine the said complaint; and if, upon such ex¬ 
amination, the said complaint shall appear well founded, such 
officer shall, by certificate under his hand, discharge such child 
from his or her obligation of service, and restore him or her to 
the charge and management of said association, in the same 
manner and with like powers as before the indenture of said 
ohild. 

Laws of 1870, ch. 433, § 8. 


§ 9. Where children are indentured, the guardian may be 
required, after said children shall have attained the age of 
twelve years, to place annually in the treasury of said associa¬ 
tion the sum of ten dollar^, which shall be the legal property 
of such children. If a girl, the aggregate, making sixty dollars, 
shall be paid to her when she has attained the age of eighteen 
years; if a boy, the annual payment, making ninety dollars, 
shall be paid to him when twenty-one years of age ; these 
respective sums shall be duly credited to said children upon the 
books of the association, and the receipts of the respective 
payments placed in the hands of the guardian for safe keeping. 

Laws of 1870, ch. 433, § 9. 


§ 10. The Board of Managers of the said Association shall 
be the guardians of every child indentured by virtue and in 
pursuance of the provisions of this act. They shall take care 
that the terms of the contract be faithfully fulfilled, and that 
such ward be properly treated; and it is hereby made their 
.special duty to inquire into the treatment of every such child, 





272 


and redress any grievance in manner prescribed by law ; and it 
shall be the duty of the guardian to whom any such child shall 
be indentured, and he shall, by the terms of the indenture, be re¬ 
quired, as often as once in each year, to report to the said Board 
of Managers the conduct and behavior of the said apprentice, 
and anything of special interest pertaining to his or her wel¬ 
fare. 

Laws of 18*70, ch. 433, § 10. 


The Society for the Aid of Friendless Women and Children- 
20 Concord Street, Brooklyn. 

§ 2. The objects of said corporation shall be to aid destitute 
and friendless women and children to help themselves by pro¬ 
viding a temporary home, where they may receive proper 
moral and intellectual culture, until they shall be provided for 
otherwise. It shall be a prominent object to find them em¬ 
ployment and a home where their services are needed, and 
where they may be surrounded by the best social and moral 
influences. 

Laws of 1870, ch. 472, § 2. 


§ 6. The said corporation may receive and take under its 
care and management children under the age of fifteen years, 
whose parents, nearest relatives or guardians, by an instru¬ 
ment in writing, may voluntarily surrender and intrust to said 
society, until they shall arrive at the age of twenty-one years 
in males and eighteen years in females, or any shorter time, 
and the said corporation shall thereupon become and be 
constituted the guardian of such children, and shall have the 
power, when the children in their care shall respectively attain 
a proper age, to place them at suitable employments, and 
cause them to be instructed in suitable branches of knowledge, 
at discretion; to bind out by indenture such children, as 
clerks, apprentices or servants, to some profession, trade or 
employment, for such time or period as they may deem proper,, 



273 


not exceeding the time for which they may have been surrend¬ 
ered as aforesaid ; and the said corporation shall take care 
that such bound or apprenticed children are properly cared 
for, fed, clothed, sheltered and kindly treated, and that the 
contract is fully observed. 

Laws of 1870, cb. 472, §6. 


§ 7. Any indenture or contract of service by which any child 
shall have been bound out, under the provisions of this act, 
may, by mutual consent of the said corporation and the person 
entitled to such service, be canceled and annulled upon such 
terms and conditions as may be agreed upon, and thereupon 
the said corporation shall resume the charge and management 
of such child, and have the same power and authority with 
regard to it as before the indenture or contract of service was 
made. 

Laws of 1870, cb. 472, § 7. 


§ 8. If the person entitled to the services of any child sur¬ 
rendered to, and bound out by, the said corporation as afore¬ 
said, shall neglect or refuse to properly care for, feed, clothe, 
shelter and kindly treat, or suffer the said child to be cruelly 
treated or abused, or to lack any of the necessaries of life, or 
shall violate any of the terms of the indenture or contract of 
service under which said child is held, such child, or the said 
corporation, or any person on behalf of such child or corpora¬ 
tion, may make complaint thereof to a Justice of the Supreme 
Court, to the County Judge, or to any justice of the peace of 
the county where such child is held to service, or to the mayor, 
recorder, an alderman, city judge, or any other magistrate of 
of any city where such child is so held to service, who shall 
thereupon summon the said person so complained of to appear 
before him, and shall examine into, hear and determine such 
complaint; and if upon such hearing, the said complaint shall 
appear to be well founded, he shall, by certificate in writing, 
18 



274 


discharge such child from the obligation of service, and restore 
such child to the charge and custody of such corporation, and 
the said person of whom complaint was made shall be liable to 
the said corporation in a civil action for the breach of the 
agreement. 

Laws of 1870, ch. 472, §8. 


Brooklyn Children’s Aid Society. 

61 Poplar Street and 139 Yan Brunt Street. 
Organized in 1866. 

Receives street boys, newsboys, boot-blacks, and homeless 
girls. 


Brooklyn Howard Colored Orphan Asylum. 

Dean Street near Troy Avenue. 

Organized in 1866. 

Receives orphan and homeless colored children of both 
sexes between two and twelve years of age, and binds them 
out at latter age. 

Brooklyn Industrial School Association. 

Butler Street, between Flatbush and Vanderbilt Avenues. 

Incorporated April 15, 1857. 

Receives destitute children of both sexes between two and 
ten years of age, and finally binds them out. 


Brooklyn Nursery, 

66 Prospect Place. 

Receives and nurses destitute babes from earliest infancy 
and finds them homes. 


Church Charity Foundation of Long Island, 
Corner Albany Avenue and Herkimer Street, Brooklyn. 
Incorporated March 13th, 1851. 


V 







275 


Receives indigent persons of botli sexes, including orphans 
and destitute children. 


Convent and House of the Good Shepherd. 

Corner of Atlantic and Rockaway Avenues, Brooklyn. 
Incorporated Dec. 23d, 1868. 

Receives destitute girls, either on their own application or 
when committed by magistrates. 


Convent of the Sisters of Mercy. 

273 Willoughby Street, Brooklyn. 

Incorporated March 8th, 1868. 

Receives, supports, and educates poor female children and 
young women. 


Orphan^Home and Asylum of the Church of the Holy 

Trinity. 

Graham Avenue between Montrose Avenue and Johnson 
Street, Brooklyn, E. D. 

Incorporated Nov. 23d, 1861. 

Receives children of both sexes, and gives them religious, 
moral, and industrial education. Some free ; some partially 
supported by relatives. 


Orphan Asylum Society of the City of Brooklyn. 
Herkimer Street and Atlantic Avenue. 
Incorporated April 15, 1835. 

Receives destitute children of both sexes from two to four¬ 
teen years. 





276 


Sheltering Arms Nursery of Long Island. 

524 Atlantic Avenue, Brooklyn. 

Organized in 1871. Not incorporated. 

Receives destitute children of both sexes from one month to 
seven years old, and especially those who have inebriate par¬ 
ents or are deserted by their parents. 


St. Joseph’s Institution for the Improved Instruction of 
Deaf Mutes in the City of Brooklyn. 

177 Main Street. 

Incorporated May, 1875. 

Gives free instruction to deaf mutes of both sexes, from six 
years of age upward to such as are not able to pay. Some of 
its pupils pay. 


St. Vincent’s Home for Boys. 

7 Poplar Street and 10 Vine Street, Brooklyn. 

Provides temporary home for newsboys and others of this 
class, and encourages them to earn their living. Such as are 
able to do so pay. 


Truant Home. 

Jamaica Plank Road, New Lotts, Long Island. 

Incorporated in 1853. 

Receives truant, disorderly and insubordinate boys between 
five and fourteen years of age. 

This Institution is conducted by the Board of Education,, 
and the teachers are paid by the City Government. Many of 
the boys are committed by the Mayor or other magistrates,, 
but the majority are sent by parents as insubordinate children. 
Sunday schools for both Roman Catholic and Protestant 
children are maintained. 





277 


Buffalo Orphan Asylum. 

Virginia Street, Buffalo. 

Incorporated April 24, 1837. 

Furnishes relief and a home for orphan and destitute chil¬ 
dren of both sexes, between two and twelve years of age. 


‘Charity Foundation of the Protestant Episcopal Church in 
the City of Buffalo, 

Rhode Island Street, between Sixth and Seventh Streets, 
Buffalo. 

Incorporated July 28, 1858. 

Receives destitute and orphan and half-orphan children of 
both sexes. Trams them in the doctrines of the Protestant 
Episcopal Church. 


Evangelical Lutheran St. John’s Orphan Home. 
Hickory Street, Buffalo.—For Girls. 

:JSulphur Springs (about four miles south of Buffalo).—For boys. 
Incorporated April 14, 1865. 

Receives destitute and orphan and half-orphan children of 
I)oth sexes, from earliest infancy until eighteen years of age. 


German Roman Catholic Orphan Asylum of Buffalo. 
Best Street, Buffalo. 

Incorporated August 6, 1856. 

Receives orphan, half orphan and destitute children of both 
isexes and all ages up to ten years. 






278 


Le Couteulx, St. Mary’s Institution for the Improved^ 
Education of Deaf Mutes. 

125 Leonard Street, Buffalo. 

Educates and supports deaf mutes for five years. Gratui¬ 
tous instruction to those who are unable to pay. 


Society for the Protection of Destitute Boman Catholic 
Children. 

St. John’s Protectory at Limestone Hill, West Seneca, City 
of Buffalo, for Boys. 

House of the Good Shepherd, Best street, Buffalo, for Girls.. 

Incorporated 25th April, 1864. 

Receives idle, truant, vicious and homeless children of both 
sexes, under fourteen years of age, and such as are committed 
to it by magistates ( 1 ). 

(’) See ante pp. 146, 146, as to Asylum of Our Lady of Refuge, which is con¬ 
nected with this Society. 


St. Joseph’s Male Orphan Asylum. 

West Seneca, near Buffalo. 
Incorporated August 2, 1851. 

Home for orphan and destitute Boman Catholic boys. 


St. Vincent’s Female Orphan Asylum. 

Cor. Batavia and Ellicott Streets, Buffalo. 
Incorporated January 29, 1849. 

Receives orphan, half-orphan and destitute girls—five years'* 
old and upwards. 


St. Mary’s Asylum for Widows, Foundlings and Infants. 

126 Edward Street, Buffalo. 

Incorporated January 13, 1852. 

Receives children of both sexes from earliest infancy, until 
five years old. 





279 


Ontario Orphan Asylum. 

Main Street, Canandaigua, N. Y. 

Receives children of both sexes. Ages vary from three to 
twelve years. 


St. Mary’s Orphan Asylum. 

Main Street, Canandaigua, N. Y. 

Incorporated October 6, 1855. 

Its object is “ the care, support and instruction of orphans 
and other children who may need such care or instruction.” 


Orphan’s House of the Holy Saviour. 
Cooperstown, Otsego County, N. Y. 
Incorporated by Act of 1870. 

Its object is to provide a home and industrial school for 
orphans, half-orphans and destitute children of both sexes. 


St. Mary’s Orphan Asylum. 

Buffalo Street, Dunkirk, N. Y. 

Incorporated January, 11, 1858. 

Its object is to provide a home for orphan and destitute 
female children. 


State Reformatory at Elmira. 

§ 250. The Board of Managers shall receive and take into 
said reformatory all male criminals, between the ages of six¬ 
teen and thirty, and not known to have been previously sen¬ 
tenced to a State prison in this or any other State or country, 
who shall be legally sentenced to said reformatory, on convic¬ 
tion of any criminal offense in any court having jurisdiction 
thereof; and such court may, in its discretion, sentence to said 
reformatory any such male person convicted of a crime punish- 




280 


able by imprisonment in a State prison, between tlie ages of 
sixteen and thirty, as aforesaid. The discipline to be ob¬ 
served in said prison shall be reformatory, and the said man¬ 
agers shall have power to use such means of reformation, con¬ 
sistent with the improvement of the inmates, as they may deem 
expedient. Agricultural labor, or mechanical industry, may be 
2 ’esorted to by said managers as an instrument of reformation. 
The contract system of labor shall not exist, in anj^ form what¬ 
ever, in said reformatory, but the prisoners shall be employed 
by the State. 

3 Revised Statutes, p. 1114, §250. Laws 1870, ch. 427, § 9. 


§ 251. All provisions or existing laws requiring the courts of 
this State to sentence male criminals, between the ages of six¬ 
teen and thirty, convicted of any criminal offense, to the State 
prisons, shall, from and after the appointment and confirmation 
of the Board of Managers provided for by section six of this 
Act, apply to said reformatory so far as to enable courts to 
sentence the class of prisoners mentioned in the ninth section 
of this Act to said reformatory. 

3 Revised Statutes, p. 1114, § 251; Laws 1870, ch. 427, § 10. 


Southern Tier Orphan Home. 

Corner Franklin and Fulton Streets, Elmira, N. Y. 
Incorporated February 14th, 1868. 

Industrial School and home for children of both sexes. 


Hudson Orphan and Belief Association. 

Corner State and North Seventh Streets, Hudson, N. Y. 

Is an Industrial Home. Beceives boys and girls from three 
to ten years. 




281 


Lockport Home for the Friendless. 

High Street, Lockport. 

Incorporated 8 th February, 1871. 

Industrial Home for children of both sexes between two and 
nine years of age. 


The Deaconess Institution of the Evangelical Lutheran 

Church. 

Location, Mount Vernon, Westchester County, N. Y. 

. § 2. The objects of this institution shall be the relief of the 
sick and insane, the care of orphans, the education of youth, 
and the exercise of mercy to the unfortunate and destitute. 

Laws of 1869, ch. 161, §2. 

■° i 


§ 7. Whereas, Reverend William A. Passavant and Peter 
Moller, Sr., by the aid of sundry charitable persons, have 
■established an orphan institution known as the “ Wartburg 
Orphans’ Farm School of the Evangelical Lutheran Church,” 
which is located near Mount Vernon, Westchester county, New 
York, in order that destitute orphan children may enjoy the 
benefit of a Christian home and training, without reference to 
the faith of their parents or the place of their birth: And whereas 
they have placed the same under the immediate supervision 
and control of the Board of Managers of the aforementioned 
“ Deaconess Institution of the Evangelical Lutheran Church.” 

Laws of 1869, ch. 161, §7. 


g 12. The executive committee of the Orphans’ Farm School 
aforesaid, shall have full authority to receive orphan children 
of the required age and character, and to have them legally 
indentured by their guardians and friends, and in all instances 
where orphans are surrendered to the institution by their legal 





guardians, or a civil magistrate, either by an instrument in 
writing, or of indenture, they shall, at their discretion, retain 
such children in the institution until of age, or place them by 
adoption, or at service in some suitable employment, and, with 
some person or persons, agreeably to the laws of the State in 
regard to placing out indigent children ; and the executive com¬ 
mittee, aforesaid, shall be the guardians of all such orphan chil¬ 
dren as are thus indentured, and shall take care that the terms 
of the contract are faithfully fulfilled, and that such wards are 
properly treated ; and it is hereby made their special duty to 
inquire into the condition and treatment of every such child, and 
redress any wrong in the manner prescribed by law; and it 
shall be the duty of every person to whom a child is thus inden¬ 
tured, and he shall, by the term of indenture, be required to 
report every six months, to the executive committee, the conduct 
and deportment of such child, and anything of special interest 
in his welfare. 

Laws of 1869, ch. 161, § 12. 

Section 9 of this act was amended, Laws 1875, ch. 440. 


Newburgh Home for the Friendless. 

Montgomery Street, Newburgh. 

Incorporated April 7, 1862. Industrial school and home for 
children of both sexes. 


St. Patrick’s Orphan Asylum. 

Newburgh. 

Incorporated 1868. Receives orphan children of both sexes*. 


Oswego Orphan Asylum. 

Oswego, N. Y. 

Its object is the support and education of orphans and des¬ 
titute children of both sexes. 






283 


Madison County Orphan Asylum. 

Peterboro, N. Y. 

Tlie affairs of this asylum are directed by the county super¬ 
intendents of the poor; it receives children of both sexes 
and all ages, and retains them until fifteen years old. 


Home for the Friendless of Northern New York. 
Plattsburgh, N. Y. 

Incorporated May, 1874. 

House for destitute children and aged females. 


Poughkeepsie Orphan House and Home for the Friendless.. 
Poughkeepsie, N. Y. 

Incorporated April, 1852. 

Its object is to provide a home for destitute and friendless 
children of both sexes. 


Church Home of the Protestant Episcopal Church, in the 
City of Eochester. 

Mount Hope Avenue, Eochester, N. Y. 

Its object is to shelter, educate, and elevate poor and needy 
children of both sexes. 


House for Idle and Truant Children. 

263 North St. Paul Street, Eochester, N. Y. 

Eeceives children from three to sixteen years old, committed 
by the Police Justices. 






284 


The Industrial School of Rochester. 
76 Exchange Street, Rochester, N. Y. 
Organized December, 1856. 

Receives vagrant and destitute children. 


Rochester Benevolent Scientific and Industrial School of 
the Sisters of Mercy. 

5 South Street, Rochester. 

Receives orphan and destitute girls. 


Rochester Home of Industry. 

136 South St. Paul Street, Rochester. 
Incorporated Feb. 25, 1874. 

Home for young girls who are homeless, working in shops, 
and unable to pay their way in respectable boarding houses. 


The Rochester Orphan Asylum. 

Hubbell Park, between Greig and Exchange Streets, 
Rochester, N. Y. 

Incorporated March 23, 1838. 

Receives orphan and destitute children of both sexes, from 
■one year to fourteen years of age. 


St. Joseph’s German Roman Catholic Orphan Asylum. 

Andrew Street, Rochester, N. Y. 

Incorporated April 23, 1863. 

Its objects are “ the moral and scientific education of orphan, 
ilialf-orphan and destitute children.” 







285 


St. Mary’s Boys’ Orphan Asylum. 

Cor. Genesee and West Main Street, Rochester, 
Incorporated December 24, 1864. 

Receives orphan and destitute boys; sends them in the 
summer to the Excelsior Farm and House of Industry for 
Boys, situated on west bank of Genesee River, three and 
one-half miles from the city Post Office. 


St. Patrick’s Female Orphan Asylum. 

Cor. Frank and Vought Streets, Rochester, N. Y. 
Incorporated April 14th, 1845. 

Its objects are, “ To provide education, maintenance and 
trades for female orphan children, and to secure for them 
homes in respectable families.” 


The Home for Christian Care. 

Situated on Hudson River, two miles from Sing Sing. 
Incorporated May 6, 1874. 

Receives homeless and degraded children. 


Society of St. Johnland. 

St. Johnland, Smithtown P. O., Long Island. 
Incorporated in 1870. 

Cares for friendless children and youth, especially cripples; 
Industrial School and Home. 


St. Joseph’s Asylum and House of Providence. 
Syracuse, N. Y., about two miles from R. R. Depot. 

Receives destitute children of both sexes, from four to eleven 
years of age, and keeps them until twelve or thirteen years of 
age. 





286 


New York Asylum for Idiots. 

Near Syracuse.—Dr. Wilbur is iu charge. 
Incorporated July 10, 1851. 

Deceives idiotic children between 7 and 14 years of age. 
Supported by the State. See ante page 96, for legislation 
effecting this asylum. 


Onondaga County Orphan House, 

East Genesee and Walnut Streets, Syracuse. 
Incorporated May 10, 1845. 

Its object is the relief of orphan and destitute children. 


St. Vincent’s Female Orphan Asylum, 

20 Madison Street, Syracuse. 

Incorporated June 12, 1860. 

Receives female orphan and destitute children between two 
and seven years of age. 


The House of the Good Shepherd. 
Tompkin’s Cove, Rockland County, N. Y. 
Organized February 13, 1866. 

Receives orphan and destitute children of both sexes. 


The Day House. 

Corner Congress and Seventh Streets, Troy. 

Incorporated April 10, 1861. 

Its objects “ are to provide a Day Home for such children as 
from the poverty or vice of their parents are not fit subjects for 
the ward schools; also to provide a temporary home for a day 
and a night to destitute children who may require such shelter.” 





287 


St. \ incent s Female Orphan Asylum. 

Corner Washington and Fifth Streets, Troy. 
Incorporated in 1863. 

Receives female children between three and nine years of age* 


Troy Catholic Male Orphan Asylum. 
Corner Hanover and Bedford Streets, Troy, N. Y. 
Incorporated January 5, 1864. 

Receives orphan and destitute boys. 


Troy Orphan Asylum. 

294 Eighth Street, Troy, N. Y. 

Incorporated April 10, 1835. 

Receives destitute and orphan children. 


The House of the Good Shepherd. 

Utica. 

Incorporated February 8,1872. 

Its objects are “the permanent care of infirm children and 
the temporary care of friendless, neglected or destitute chil¬ 
dren.” 


St. John’s Female Orphan Asylum. 

60 John Street, Utica. 

Receives destitute and orphan female children from earliest 
age until eighteen or twenty years of age. 



288 


St. Vincent’s Male Orphan Asylum. 

Rutger Street, Utica. 

Incorporated April 21, 1862. 

Receives orphan and half-orphan and destitute children. 


Utica Orphan Asylum. 

Corner Pleasant and Genesee Streets. 
Incorporated April 19, 1830. 

Receives orphan, half-orphan and destitute children from two 
years of age and upward. 


Thomas’ Asylum for Orphan and Destitute Indian Children. 
Versailles P. O., Cattaraugus County, N. Y. 
Incorporated Laws, 1855, chap. 233. 

Receives destitute and orphan Indian children from each of 
the reservations in this State. 


Jefferson County Orphan Asylum. 

Franklin street, Watertown, N. Y. 

Incorporated May 11,1859. 

Receives orphan children between two and ten years of age- 


St. Patrick’s Benevolent Society of the Town of Yonkers. 

Yonkers, Westchester County, N. Y. 

§ 2. The objects of said corporation are to afford pecuniary 
relief to its sick, indigent, or reduced members, and their 
widows and children, and to promote social union and frater¬ 
nal feelings among its members. 

Laws of 1863, ch. 87, § 2. 






PART -VI. 


Notice to the Public and Order to 
the Police. 


The New Yoke 

Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children. 
Hereby informs the public that it will investigate and prose¬ 
cute, when necessary, all cases of cruelty to children, which 
shall come to its knowledge ; and it earnestly entreats all per¬ 
sons to report‘without delay to its officers, every case of posi¬ 
tive cruelty, in order that the same may be immediately 
abated. 

When a violation of the law takes place in the immediate 
presence of any person, a police officer should be called to 
arrest the offender, and a complaint made before a magistrate/ 
and notice of the same should be sent to the society. 

Should a police officer refuse to make the arrest, take his 
number and report it with the facts of the case to the society. 

John D. Wright. 

President. 


Office of Superintendent of Police of the City of New 
York, No. 300 Mulberry Street. 

New York, May 15th, 1870. 

General Order, No. 196. 

Captain 

Precinct. 

The Legislature of the State of New York, on the 21st of 






290 


April, 1875, passed an Act for the Incorporation of Societies 
for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children, the fourth section of 
which reads as follows : 

Sec. 4. All magistrates, constables, sheriffs and officers of 
police shall, as occasion may require, aid the society so incor¬ 
porated, its officers, members and agents, in the enforcement 
of all laws which now are or may hereafter be enacted relating 
to or affecting children. 

Again, on the 14tli of April, 1876, it passed the following 
“Act to prevent and punish wrongs to children 

The People of the State of Neiv York , represented in Senate and 
Assembly , do enact as follows : 

Sec. 1. Any person having the care, custody or control of 
any child under the age of sixteen, who shall exhibit, use, or 
employ, or who shall in any manner, or under any pretense, 
sell, apprentice, give away, let out, or otherwise dispose of any 
such child to any person, in or for the vocation, occupation, 
service, or purpose of singing, playing on musical instruments, 
rope or wire walking, dancing, begging or peddling, or as a 
gymnast, contortionist, rider or acrobat, in any place whatsoever; 
or for or in any obscene, indecent, or immoral purpose, exhibi¬ 
tion or practice whatsoever; or for or in any business, exhibition 
or vocation injurious to the health or dangerous to the life or 
limb of such child ; or who shall cause, procure, or encourage 
any such child to engage therein, shall be guilty of a misde¬ 
meanor. Nothing in this section contained shall apply to or 
affect the employment or use of any such child as a singer or 
musician in any church, school or academy, or the teaching or 
learning the science or practice of music ; nor the employment 
of any child as a musician at any concert or entertainment, on 
the written consent of the mayor of the city or president of the 
bbard of trustees of the village where such concert or entertain¬ 
ment shall take place. 

Sec. 2. Every person who shall take, receive, hire, employ, 
use, exhibit, or have in custody any child under the age, and 
for any of the purposes mentioned in the first section of 
this act, shall be guilty of a misdemeanor. 


291 


Sec. 3. When, upon examination before any court or magis¬ 
trate, it shall appear that any child within the age previously 
mentioned in this act was engaged, or used for, or in any busi¬ 
ness, or exhibition, or vocation, or purpose specified, and as 
mentioned in this act; and when, upon the conviction of any 
person of a criminal assault upon a child in his or her custody, 
the court or magistrate before whom such conviction is had, shall 
deem it desirable for the welfare of such child that the person 
so convicted should be deprived of its custody thereafter, such 
court or magistrate may commit such child to an orphan asylum, 
charitable, or other institution, or make such other disposition 
thereof as now is or hereafter may be provided by law in cases 
of vagrant, truant, disorderly, pauper or destitute children. 

Sec. 4. Whoever, having the care or custody of any child, 
shall willfully cause or permit the life of such child to be en¬ 
dangered, or the health of such child to be injured, or who 
shall willfully cause or permit such child to be placed in’sucli a 
situation that its life may be endangered, or its health shall be 
likely to be injured, shall be guilty of a misdemeanor. 

Sec. 5. All fines, penalties and forfeitures imposed and col¬ 
lected in any county in this State under the provisions of this 
and of every act passed, or which may be passed, relating to or 
-affecting children, in every case where the prosecution shall be 
instituted or conducted by a society incorporated pursuant to 
the provisions of chapter one hundred and thirty of the Laws 
of eighteen hundred and seventy-five, being an act entitled, 
“An act for the incorporation of societies for the Prevention of 
Cruelty to Children,” shall, except where otherwise provided, 
enure to such society, in aid of the purposes for which it was 
incorporated. 

Sec. 6. Nothing herein contained shall be construed as affect¬ 
ing the punishment of offenses under chapter 116 of the Laws 
of 1874, entitled, “An act in relation to Mendicant and Yagrant 
Children.” 


The New York Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Chil¬ 
dren, having been duly incorporated pursuant to chapter 130, 
Laws of 1875, is entitled to prefer complaints and to aid in 



292 


bringing the facts before the courts. You will therefore in¬ 
struct the members of jour command to be watchful and dili¬ 
gent in regard to the statutes referring to children. 

The society having been duly authorized by section 3 of the 
Laws of 1875, chapter 130, and the attorney-general of the 
State, and by the district attorney of the county of New York, 
to prosecute, or assist in prosecuting, violations of all laws re¬ 
lating to or affecting children ; arrests made by any officer, or 
through him at the request of any citizen, must be reported 1 
without delay to the offices of the society, 860 Broadway, cor¬ 
ner of Seventeenth street, New York city. 

Geo. W. Walling, 

Superintendent. 


IOTEX 


A. 

PAGE. 

ABANDONMENT AND EXPOSURE OF CHIL¬ 
DREN. 113 

Of infant child ; its adoption. 20 

ABDUCTION. 108 

ABORTION. 105 

ACROBATIC PERFORMERS— 

Must have net-work beneath them. 115 

ACROBATS’ CHILDREN.123,124 

ACT OF 1876— 

Held constitutional.,.126-130 

ADOPTION— 

What is. 17 

Who may be adopted.. . 17 

Consent of child to, when necessary. 18 

“ “ parents or person having custody. 18 

When necessary. 18,19 

Consent of husband and wife necessary to adoption 

by either. 18 

With consent of parents, irrevocable by them. 17 

Parties must appear before county judge and exe¬ 
cute consents and agreement. 19 

Examination by judge and order thereon. 19 

Child to take name of person adopting. 19 

Relation of parent and child to be sustained by per¬ 
son adopting and the child. 19 

Exception. 20 





















INDEX. 


ii' 


PAGE. 

ADOPTION—( Continued .) 

Abandonment and adoption of infant child. 20 

Parents of adopted child relieved of parental duties, 

&c . 20 

Proof of adoption of children adopted before 

passage of this Act. 20 

Inheritance by adopted child. 20,21 

ADULTERY— 

Relatives within the forbidden degrees of con¬ 
sanguinity guilty of, may be imprisoned. 8 

ALBANY— 

State board of charities. 159 


ALIEN— 

(See “ Citizenship,” “ Emigrants.”) 
APPRENTICE— 

(See “ Master, Apprentice and Servants.”) 
ARMY— 

(See “ Military Service.”) 

ASYLUMS— 

(See “Societies.”) 

B 

BASTARDS— 


Support and custody of. 21 

Emigrant .. 4g 

BEGGARS— 

Who are.. g9 

Conviction upon examination. 90 

Children found begging .*. 90 


BEQUEST— 

(See “ Wills.”) 

BETTING AND GAMING 
BLIND— 

Education of the.. 


67 
















INDEX. 


ill 

PAGE. 

BOOKS, OBSCENE.116-121 

BROTHER— 

Marriage of, with his sister incestuous and void.... 8 

€. 

CHARITIES AND CORRECTIONS— 

Department of. 168 

CHILDREN— 

Of marriage declared null, to whom their custody 

shall be decreed.... . 10 

Education, Ac., of children of divorced parents, pro¬ 
visions for. 10, 11 

When decree for custody of, becomes inoperative.. 10 

Parent having custody of, about to leave state, may 

be required to give security. 10 

Of divorced parents, custody of. 11 

Owning lands, guardianship of, to whom belongs.. . 12 

Under seven years cannot be punished as a 

criminal. 14 

(See “ Guardian and Ward.”) 

Brutally chastised may have action of battery. 14 

Of parents separated, custody of.. 15,16 

Detained by Shakers, habeas corpus for. 16, 17 

Custody of, to whom awarded. 16 

Adoption of (see “ Adoption.”) 

In disposing of custody of, their wishes, Ac., to be 

considered. 18 

Father Has no absolute right to their custody. 18 

Abandoned, adoption of. 20 

Bastard, custody and support of. 21 

Binding out emigrant children. 48 

(See “ Master and Apprentices and Servants.”) 

Of certain aliens to be considered citizens. 36 

Of citizens, born out of U. S., to be citizens. 36 

Over certain ages, may make will of personalty- 39 

Wages of, to whom may be paid. 40 





















iv 


DsDEX. 


PAGE. 

CHILDBEN—( Continued.) 

Deposits in savings banks by.. 40 

Of soldiers to receive pensions in certain cases.... 41-44 

Not to practise physic or surgery. . 44 

Emigrating to this country. 45 

Orphan, of emigrants dying on passage.. 46 

Vaccination of (see “ Vaccination”). 

Public instruction of (see “ Education ”). 

Idle and truant (see Education, Common Schools”). 
Certain, not to be employed during school hours... 55, 56 
Working in factories, *&c., their condition to be 

inquired into. 61 

Found begging. 90 

Duty of, to support parents . 77 

Unlawful to commit to poor-houses. 91 

To be removed from poor-houses . 91 

Places of confinement for.98,103 

Born in state prison. 104 

Taking of, for marriage, prostitution, &c., under 

fourteen a crime. . 112 

Decoying. 113 

Abandonment and exposure of. . 113 

Substitution of. 114 

Concealing death of. 114 

Certain employments of, unlawful, and certain dan¬ 
gerous trades forbidden.123-125 

Sale of liquor to.132-135 

Under 14 not admitted at theatres. 140 

Abandoned, in New York city... 143 

“ in Kings county. 144 

“ in Erie county. 145 

“ in Kensselaer county. 146 

Incorporation of societies for prevention of cruelty 

to. 148 

Duties of corporations as to children entrusted to 

them.153-158 

May be bound out by such corporations.155-157 

Duty of master.157, 158 





























INDEX. 


V 


PAGE. 

CITIZENSHIP. 36 

Of children born out of limits of U. S. 36 

“ of alien dying before naturalization.. 36 

“ of naturalized alien. 36 

COLLEGES— 

Certain to admit free pupils. 76 

COMMISSIONERS— 

Of Emigration.45-49 

Of Public Charities and Correction, may commit 

vagrants on their request. 93 

Powers of, as to binding out. 93 

In lunacy. 96 

COMMON SCHOOLS. (See “ Education.”) 

COMPULSORY EDUCATION. 54 

(See “ Education Compulsory.”) 

CONSENT— 

To marriage, age of. 9 

Minister or magistrate celebrating marriage of per¬ 
son under age of consent, guilty of misdemeanor. 9 

Of child over twelve to its adoption, necessary.... 18 

Of parents to adoption, when necessary. 18,19 

“ “ and child to its apprenticeship (see 

“ Masters and Apprentices and Ser¬ 
vants”). 

CONTORTIONISTS—Children.123,124 

CORPORATIONS. (See Incorporations.) 

COURTS— 

Oi Session’s powers. 100 

Sui rogates. . 101 

City Court of Brooklyn. 101 

Recorder and Justices of Utica. 101 

Justices’ Court of New York and Brooklyn, for 

wages. 102 

Of Arbitration. 103 

Clerks of. 10 3 





















INDEX. 


vi 


CRUELTY TO CHILDREN. Societies for prevention 


of. 149 

Incorporation of Societies for prevention of. 148 


D. 

DANGER TO LIFE OR HEALTH OF CHILDREN. 123,124 


"DEAF AND DUMB. 68-72 

DECOYING CHILDREN. 113 

DEPARTMENT PUBLIC CHARITIES AND COR¬ 
RECTION. 168 

DEPOSITS— 

In savings banks by minors. 40 

DEVISE (“ see Wills ”). 

DISORDERLY PERSONS. 100 

Defined .. 136 

Proceedings against. 137 

Special provisions for New York city.138-144 

“ “ for Kings county. 144 

“ “ . for Erie county. 145 

“ “ for Rensselaer county. 146 


DISQUALIFICATIONS TO VOTE AND TESTIFY. 158,159 


DIVORCE— 

Marriage may be declared null in certain cases.... 9,10 

Limited divorces, provisions for support, &c., of 

children. 10,11 

Absolute divorces, provisions for support, Ac., of 

children. 10,11 

Parents separated, though not divorced custody of 

children.. 15,16 

DRUNKARDS, FEMALE. 93 

Are disorderly persons. 136 





















INDEX; Vli 

PAGE. 

E 

EDUCATION- 

Of children of divorced parents, provisions for.... 10,11 
When divorce is not granted, provisions 

for. 11 

Enforcement of such provisions. 12 

Of minor for whom testamentary guardian has been 

appointed.. 14 

Public Instruction. 49 

Common Schools.. .1. 49 

Pupils not vaccinated to be excluded from 49, 66 
School trustees to appoint physicians to 

vaccinate children... 50 

School trustees to make report on vaccina¬ 
tion . 50 

To be free to pupils between certain ages. 51 

Corporal punishment not to be inflicted in 

schools of New York. 65 

Schoolmaster’s right to chastise. 51, 65 

When liable to action for chastising. 51 

Colored children, separate schools for.... 52 

Idle and truant children, provisions for the 

care and instruction of .52,53,54 

To be employed in useful occupation. 53 

Compulsory. 54-60 

Trustees of schools to inquire into condi¬ 
tion of children employed at labor. 56 

Parents to send children between eight and ♦ 

fourteen to school. 56 

Duties of school trustees to carry act into 

effect and report. 57 

Penalties for violation of this act. 57 

Text books to be furnished free to poor 

children. 57 

Child refusing to attend school to be 

deemed an habitual truant. 58 

Trustees to make provisions, &c., for ha¬ 
bitual truants, to be approved by judge. 58 





















X 


INDEX. 


FAGH. 

EMIGRANTS—( Continued.) 

Over four years old to be furnished with seats with 
permanent backs, and certain amount space on 
deck.. 

ERIE COUNTY— 

Drunkards, vagrants, prostitutes. 145 

¥. 

FACTORIES— 

Children in.. . 61 

FORNICATION— 

Relatives within the forbidden degrees of consan¬ 
guinity guilty of, may be imprisoned. 8 

FRAUD— 

Marriage obtained by force or fraud when void.... 9 

G. 

GUARDIAN AND WARD— . 

Guardianship of infants owning lands, to whom 

belongs. 12 

Guardian may have habeas corpus for detention of 

ward. 12 

Testamentary Guardians, when and by whom 

appointed. 13 

Effect of marriage of guardian. 14 

Father cannot appoint unless mother 

assents, if she be living. 14, 23 

Rights and powers, duties and obligations 

of. 14 

General duties... 15 

County Superintendents of the Poor and Overseers 
of the Poor in towns and cities to be guardians 

of all apprentices... 29 

Their duties as such. 29, 30 

123,124 


GYMNASTS—Children 



















INDEX. 


XI 


PAGE. 

% fif. 

HABEAS CORPUS- 

Husband may have, to relieve his wife from improper 

restraint. . 8 

Guardian may have, for detention of ward. 12 

Wife separated from husband may have, for custody 

of children . 15,16 

For child detained by Shakers. 16,17 

Putative father of ill-treated bastard may have for 

its custody. 22 

Master may have, for .custody of apprentice. 22, 23 

Matter of Donohue and Ellis.. 126 

HALF-BLOOD— 

Marriages between half-blood relatives within the 

forbidden degrees incestuous and void. 8 

HEIR, Producing a pretended.. 114 

HOMES— 

(See “Societies.”) 

HOUSE OF REFUGE. 170 

Certain truant children to be sent to. 64 

Part of Randall’s Island set apart for truant chil¬ 
dren. 64 

Disqualification to testify and vote does not apply 

to inmates of.158, 159 

In Western New York. 184 

HOUSE OF THE GOOD SHEPHERD. 93 

HUSBAND AND WIFE— 

Husband may have habeas corpus to relieve wife 

from improper restraint. 6 

And homine replegiando to recover custody of her 

person. 8 

Divorced, provisions for support of wife. 10, 11 

Either joining Shakers (see “Shakers”). 

Either adopting children (see “ Adoption ”). 

Indenturing children (see “Masters, Apprentices 
and Servants”). 




















INDEX. 


xii 

PAGE. 

HUSBAND AND WIFE—( Continued.) 

Nofc to make certain bequests. 40 

Wife, deposit by, in savings banks. 40 

Sale of liquor to.133-135 

Husband abandoning family in New York city is a 

disorderly person.138,142 

I. 

IDIOT— 

Minister or magistrate celebrating marriage of, 

guilty of misdemeanor. 9 

ILLEGITIMATE— 

Marriage between illegitimate relatives within the 

forbidden degrees, incestuous and void. 8 

Children, when deemed legitimate as to pensions . . 42 

IMPOTENCY— 

Marriage of impotent person when void. 9 

INCEST. 8 

INCORPORATIONS— 

General act to incorporate benevolent, &c., secieties. 151 

Duties and powers over minors. 153 

Must keep records. 153 

To be open to inspection. 154 

Must not change names of children. 154 

May bind out children.155-157 

INFANT—(See “ Children ”). 

INSANE. . 94-98 

K 

KIDNAPPING. HO 

KINGS COUNTY— 

Abandoning families in.... , . 144 

li. 

LAND— 

When regarded as personalty. 39 

LUNATICS. 94 _g 8 




















INDEX. xiii 

I 

PAGE. 

ML 

MAGDALEN FEMALE BENEVOLENT SOCIETY 

AND HOME FOB FALLEN WOMEN. 92 

MABKIAGE. 7 

Is a civil contract. 7 

Consent of parties necessary. 7 

No legal form or religous ceremony necessary. ... 8 

Husband may have habeas corpus to relieve wife 

from restraint. 8 

Also homine replegiando to recover custody of her 

person. 8 

Certain marriages incestuous and void. 8 

Punishment for incest. 8 

Certain marriages void for incapacity, force or 

fraud. 9 

Age of consent. 9 

Solemnization of certain marriages a misdemeanor. 9 

May be declared void when either party was under 

age of consent. 9 

When female married without consent under four¬ 
teen . 10 

Provision for children of divorced parents. 10 

Of testamentary guardian, effect of. 14 

Of children under fourteen a crime. 112 

MANSLAUGHTEB- 

Killing unborn child.. 105 

Miscarriage. 105 

MASTEBS, APPBENTICES AND SEBVANTS— 

Enticing child from master, action for. 12 

Infants in certain cases may bind themselves out to- 

learn a trade, &c . 22,23 

Master may have habeas corpus for apprentice. 22, 23 

Apprentice cannot be removed from State. 22 

Consent of parents and others.23, 24, 26 

Father cannot apprentice child without consent of 

mother if living. 23 


























XIV 


INDEX. 


PAGE. 

MASTERS, APPRENTICES, &c—{Continued.) 

Executors of father may bind children in certain 

cases. *24 

County superintendents of poor, and overseers of 
poor in town or city, may bind children in cer¬ 
tain cases.'. 24 

Indian children binding out of. 24 

Age of apprentice and consideration for apprentic¬ 
ing to be inserted in indentures. 25 

Statement of age not conclusive upon infant. 25 

Indentures to contain agreement to instruct appren¬ 
tice made by poor officers to be filed in county 

clerk’s and town clerk’s offices.. 25 

Aliens may bind themselves for passage money.... 26 

All indentures to be in wTiting and executed under 

seal, by master, apprentice, and his parents, &c. . 26 

To contain certain covenants, &c. 27 

Not complying with provisions of this act declared 

a misdemeanor:. 28 

When indentures to be canceled. 28 

Apprentice leaving service, how punished. 28, 30 

Master failing to comply with indentures, how pun¬ 
ished. 28 

Apprentice or his parents, &c., may have action for 

damages.•.. 29 

Indentures not in accordance with provisions of 

this act, void..... . 29 

Poor officers to be guardians of apprentices, their 

duties as such. 29 

Misdemeanor or ill behavior by apprentice, how 

punished... 30, 31 

Apprentice cruelly treated may be discharged. 31 

Master may chastise apprentice. 31 

When guilty of assault and battery in chastising 

apprentice. 31 

Contracts restraining apprentice from trade, &c., 

prohibited. 33 

Punishment for exacting such contract. 33 

On death of master, indentures may be assigned 
with consent of apprentice. 33 























INDEX. 


XV 


PAO*. 

MASTERS, APPRENTICES, &c. (Concluded.) 

Provisions in case he does not consent... 34 

This act' to apply to female mistresses, &c., and 

female apprentices, &c. 34 

Merchant service, apprenticing boys to. 34 

Duty of shipping commissioners. 34 

When apprenticeship to cease. 35 

Indenture, form of. 35 

Master of foreign-going vessel to produce appren¬ 
tice before shipping commissioner. 35 

Penalty for not complying with this section. 35 

Sale of liquor to apprentice. 132 

Duty of master to apprentice. 158 

MERCHANT SERVICE-(See “ Masters, Apprentices, 
and Servants ”). 

MILITARY SERVICE— 

Army, qualifications of recruits for U. S. armies.... 37 

Persons under twenty-one not to be enlisted with¬ 
out consent, etc.. . 37 

Persons subject to military duty.38, 39 

Navy, certain boys may be enlisted in. . 39 

Consent of parent, &c., necessary. 39. 

Navy, who not to be enlisted in. 39 

Pensions to be paid to children of soldiers in certain 

cases. 41-44 

Amount of.•./. • • 44 

To be increased.. • • • 42 

MINORS—(See “ Children”). 

MISDEMEANORS— 

Ministers and magistrates celebrating certain mar¬ 
riages guilty of. 9 

Punishment.. 

Secretion of children by Shakers, a. 17 

Punishment.. * * ^ 

Masters taking an apprentice without complying 

with provision of act on that subject, guilty of a 28 

r 98 

Punishment. 


























XVI 


INDEX. 


MISDEMEANORS—( Continued.) 


Definition of. 121 

Punishment of. 122 

MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS. 123,124 


N. 

NAUTICAL SCHOOLS—(See “ Education—Nautical 


Schools”). 

NAVY—(See “ Military Service’’). 

NEW YORK CITY— 

Truant law for,. 60 

Common Schools in . 65 

Vaccination of pupils. 66 

Society for Suppression of Vice. 121 

Disorderly persons in. 138 


O. 

ORPHAN ASYLUMS—(See “Societies”). 
ORPHANS—(See “Children”). 


P. 

PADRONE ACT. Ill 

PARENT AND CHILD— 

Marriages between, incestuous and void. 8 

To which parent custody of children of marriage 

declared null shall be awarded. 10 

If such parent about to leave State, security from.. 10 

Enticing child from parent, action for. 12 

Parents may appoint testamentary guardians in 

certain cases . 13 

Right to chastise and enforce obedience. 14 

Child brutally chastised may have action of battery. 14 

Parents separated, custody of children. 15, 16 

Parent joining Shakers, other parent may have 

habeas corpus for custody of children..... 16, 17 


















INDEX. xvii 

PAGE 

PARENT AND CHILD -(Continued.) 

Adoption of children (see “Adoption”). 

Father has not an absolute right to custody of his 

child, he may forfeit it. 18 

Reputed father and mother liable for support of 

bastard child. 21 

Indenturing child to learn trade, &c. (see “ Masters, 
Apprentices and Servants”). 

Charitable devises, &c., by parent, limited. 40 

Parent to educate child (see “ Education, Compul¬ 
sory”). 

Mutual duty of support. 77 

Support compelled summarily. 78 

Absconding. 80 

PAUPERS— 

Emigrants likely to become, bond for. 45 

Children, education of. 53, 54 

General provisions fo. 77-92 

Penalties for removing.. 87-89 

Who to be deemed State paupers. 160 

PEDDLING—Children.123, 124 

PENSIONS— 

To widows and children .. 41-44 

PHYSICIANS AND SURGEONS- 

Qualifications of. 44 

Infants may not practise as. 44 

Trustees of colleges to grant diplomas-.*. 44 

POLICE— 

General order to, in city of New York.. 289 

POOR- 

Duty to support parents and children. 77 

Superintendents of the.82-86 

Who to be maintained as such. 82 

Settlements, how gained. 86 

Penalties for removing. 87-89 

3 
























XVlll 


INDEX. 


PAG*. 

POOE HOUSE— 

Unlawful to commit children to. 91 

Children to be removed from.. 91 

PRISONS— 

For children and women.98,103 

Children born in State prison. 104 

PROSTITUTES.92, 94, 136 

Desiring to reform may be committed. 92 

PROSTITUTION.108,112 

PROTESTANT EPISCOPAL HOUSE OE MERCY. 92 
PUBLIC—Notice to. 289 

it. 

RAPE. 107 

RELATIVES— 

Persons having certain, not to make certain be¬ 
quests . 40 

Marriages of certain, void. 8 

RENSSELAER COUNTY—Abandoning families in.. 146 

RIDERS—Children.123, 124 

ROMAN CATHOLIC HOUSE OF GOOD SHEP¬ 
HERD . 92 

ROPE WALKING.123,124 

S. 

SAILORS—Wilful injuries. i 10 

SAVINGS BANKS— 

Deposits by children and married women... t. 4Q 

SCHOOLS—(See “Education ” and “Societies”). 
SEDUCTION OF PASSENGERS BY MARINERS.. 109 
SEPARATION— 

Custody of the children of parents who are sepa¬ 
rated . 



















INDEX. 


XIX 


PAGE. 

SETTLEMENT—How gained by poor persons. 86 

SHAKERS— 

Children detained by, habeas corpus for. 16,17 

Secreting children misdemeanor. 17 

Search warrant for. t .... 16 

SINGING—Children. 123 

SLAVES.110,112, 122 

SOCIETIES— 

ALBANY COUNTY. 

Albany Childs’ Hospital. 266 

Albany House of Shelter. 267 

Albany Orphan Asylum. 266 

Children’s Friend Society. 266 

Orphan Home of St. Peter’s Church. 267 

St. Vincent’s Orphan Asylum Society.. .. 267 

BROOME COUNTY. 

Susquehanna Valley Home and Industrial 

School for Indigent Children. 268 

CATTARAUGUS COUNTY. 

Thomas Asylum for Orphan and Destitute 

Indian Children. 288 

CAYUGA COUNTY. 

Cayuga Asylum for Destitute Children.... 267 

CHATAUQUA COUNTY. 

St. Mary’s Orphan Asylum. 279 

CHEMUNG COUNTY. 

Southern Tier Orphan Home. 280 

State Reformatory at Elmira. 279 

CLINTON COUNTY. 

Home for Friendless in Northern N. Y.... 283 

COLUMBIA COUNTY. 

Hudson Orphan and Relief Association .. 280 

DUTCHESS COUNTY. 

Poughkeepsie Orphan House and Home 

for Friendless. 283 




















XX 


INDEX. 


PAGK. 

SOCIETIES—( Continued.) 

ERIE COUNTY. 

Buffalo Orphan Asylum.. 277 

Charity Foundation of P. E. Church, Buf¬ 
falo. 277 

Evangelical Lutheran St. John’s Orphan 

Home. 277 

German R. C. Orphan Asylum. 277 

Le Couteulx St. Mary’s Institution for 

Improved Instruction of Deaf Mutes.. 278 

Society for Protection of Destitute R. C. 

Children. 278 

St. Joseph’s Male Orphan Asylum. 278 

St. Vincent’s Female Orphan Asylum... . 278 

St. Mary’s Asylum for Widows, Found¬ 
lings, &c . 278 

GENESSEE COUNTY. 

New York State Institution for the Blind.. 267 

JEFFERSON COUNTY. 

Jefferson County Orphan Asylum... 288 

KINGS COUNTY. 

Brooklyn Children’s Aid Society... 274 

“ Howard Colored Orphan Asylum. 274 

“ Industrial School Association.. . 274 

“ Nursery. 274 

Church Charity Foundation of L. 1. 274 

Convent and House of Good Shepherd... 275 

“ of the Sisters of Mercy. 275 

Industrial School Association. 269 

Orphan Asylum Society, City of Brooklyn. 275 
Orphan Home and Asylum, Church Holy 

Trinity. 275 

Roman Catholic Orphan Asylum . 268 

Sheltering Arms Nursery of L. 1. 276 

Society for Aid of Friendless Women and 

Children. 272 

, St. Joseph’s Institution for Improved In¬ 
struction of Deaf Mutes... 276 






















INDEX. 


XXI 


SOCIETIES—( Continued.) 

KINGS county—( Continued.) 

St. Vincent’s Home for Boys. 276 

Truant Home. 276 

MADISON COUNTY. 

Madison County Orphan Asylum, Peter- 

boro. 283 

MONROE COUNTY. 

Church Home, P. E. Church, Bochester.. 283 

House for Idle and Truant Children__ 283 

Industrial School of Rochester. 284 

Rochester Benevolent and Scientific Indus¬ 
trial School, &c... 284 

Rochester Home of Industry. 284 

Rochester Orphan Asylum. 284 

St. Joseph’s German R. C. Orphan Asylum. 284 

St. Mary’s Boys’ Orphan Asylum. 285 

St. Patrick’s Female Orphan Asylum. 285 

Western House of Refuge. 184 

NEW YORK COUNTY. 

American Female Guardian Society. 248 

Artists’ Fund Society. 245 

Association for Befriending Children and 

Young Girls. 237 

Association for Benefit of Colored Orphans 255 

Asylum for Orphan, Friendless and Ille¬ 
gitimate Children of German origin... . 245 

Asylum St. Vincent de Paul. 264 

Children’s Aid Society. 258 

Children’s Educational Relief Associa¬ 
tion. 239 

Children’s F old. 244 

Colored Home. ... 262 

Department Public Charities and Correc¬ 
tion. 168 

Evangelical Italian Orphan Asylum. 260 

Five Points House of Industry. 235 

Foundling Asylum of Sisters of Charity... 226 

German American School, Nineteenth 
Ward. 243 
























XXII 


INDEX. 


PAGE. 

SOCIETIES—( Continued.) 

NEW YOKE COUNTY—( Continued .) 

German Mutual Assistance Society for, 

Widows and Orphans. 256 

Hebrew Benevolent Orphan Asylum Soc’y. 259 

House of Good Shepherd. 238 

House of Mercy. 265 

House of Befuge. 170 

Howard Mission and Home for Little 

Wanderers..... 264 

Institution of Mercy. 265 

Leake and Watts’ Orphan House. 233 

Lithographers’ Benevolent Association.. . . 243 

New York Association for Improving Con¬ 
dition of Poor. 254 

New York Catholic Protectory. 203 

New York Infant Asylum. 213 

New York Infirmary for Women and Chil¬ 
dren . 241 

New York Juvenile Asylum. 189 

New York Ladies’ Home Missionary So¬ 
ciety, M. E. Church. 255 

New York Society for Belief of Buptured 

and Crippled... 240 

New York Society for Suppression of Vice. 254 

Nursery and Child’s Hospital. 260 

Orphan Asylum Society in the city of New 

York...^. 256 

Orphans’ Home and Asylum, P. E. Church. 238 

Protestant Half-Orphan Asylum. 261 

Boman Catholic Orphan Asylum. 247 

Boosevelt Hospital. 241 

Bose Beneficent Association. 247 

Shelter for Bespectable Girls, and Home, &c. 

Sheltering Arms.. 236 

Shepherd’s Fold, P. E. Church. 245 

Society for the Beformation of Juvenile 

Delinquents. 170 

Society for Belief Destitute Children, Sea¬ 
man . 242 


























INDEX. xxiii 

SOCIETIES—( Continued.) 

NEW YOKE COUNTY—( Continued .) 

Society for Belief Half-Orphan and Desti¬ 
tute Children in the city of New York.. 4 261 

State Charities Aid Association. 167 

St. Joseph’s Asylum. 262 

St. Luke’s Hospital. 239 

St. Mary’s Free Hospital for Children.... 241 

St. Stephen’s Home for Children. 265 

St. Vincent’s Home for Boys. 265 

St. Vincent de Paul’s Industrial School... 265 

Trustees’ Masonic Hall and Asylum Fund. 247 

Union Home and School, Ac. 263 

Unitarian Mission School.. 239 

Wayside Industrial Home. 244 

Wilson Industrial School for Girls. 266 

Women’s Aid Society and Home for Train¬ 
ing Young Girls. 237 

Workingwomen’s Protective Union. 264 

NIAGARA COUNTY. 

Lockport Home for the Friendless. 281 

ONEIDA COUNTY. 

House Good Shepherd, Utica. . 287 

St. John’s Female Orphan Asylum. 287 

St. Vincent’s Male Orphan Asylum. 288 

Utica Orphan Asylum. 288 

ONONDAGA COUNTY. 

St. Joseph’s Asylum and House of Provi- 

idence . 285 

New York Asylum for Idiots. 286 

Onondaga County Orphan House. 286 

St. Vincent’s Female Orphan Asylum..... 286 

ONTARIO COUNTY. 

Ontario Orphan Asylum. 279 

St. Mary’s Orphan Asylum. 279 

ORANGE COUNTY. 

Newburgh House for Friendless. 282 

St. Patrick’s Orphan Asylum. 282 

OSWEGO COUNTY. 

Oswego Orphan Asylum. 282 



























XXIV 


INDEX. 


PAGE. 

SOCIETIES—( Concluded.) 

OTSEGO COUNTY. 

Orphan’s House of the Holy Saviour. 279 

RENSSELAER COUNTY. 

Day House, Troy. 286 

St. Vincent’s Female Orphan Asylum. 287 

Troy Catholic Male Orphan Asylum. 287 

Troy Orphan Asylum. 287 

RICHMOND COUNTY. 

Society for Relief of Destitute Children of 

Seamen. 242 

ROCKLAND COUNTY. 

House of the Good Shepherd. 286 

STEUBEN COUNTY. 

Davenport Institution for Female Orphan 
Children. 268 

SUFFOLK COUNTY. 

Society St. Johnlandi. 285 

WESTCHESTER COUNTY. 

Deaconess Institution, Evangelical Luther¬ 
an Church. 281 

Home for Christian Care. 285 

St. Patrick's Benevolent Society, Yonkers. 288 

STATE COMMISSIONERS IN LUNACY. 96 

SUPERVISORS— 

To provide places of detention for children. 98 

To provide employment for disorderly persons. 100 

SURGEONS—(See “ Physicians and Surgeons”). 

T. 

THEATRES—Children under fourteen not to be ad¬ 
mitted to. 140 

TRUANT LAW. 52-65 


















INDEX. 


XXV 


PAGE. 

V. 

VACCINATION— 

A 

Of pupils in Common Schools. 49, 50 

Unvaccinated Pupils to be excluded from school.. 49, 66 
School Trustees to appoint physician to vaccinate 

children.. . 50 

General vaccination in the city of New York. 51 

Power of Board of Health. 51 

VAGRANTS— 

Who are. 89 

Conviction of, on examination. 89 

Children. 90 

May be committed on their own request. 93 

Female .. . . 93 


W. 

WAGES OF MINORS. 

Of Females, how Protected 

WILLS— 

Certain infants may make wills of personal estate. 39 

Land when regarded as personalty. 39 

Charitable bequests, limited.40,153 


40 

102, 264 







































































































































































































































/ 

















































































